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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29209812">One Year Later</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holmgren13/pseuds/Holmgren13'>Holmgren13</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Psychonauts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abuse, Age Difference, Anal Sex, Consensual Underage Sex, Exhibitionism, Humiliation, In Public, M/M, Oral Sex, Rape/Non-con Elements, Teacher-Student Relationship, Torture</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:07:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Rape/Non-Con, Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>28,636</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29209812</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holmgren13/pseuds/Holmgren13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A follow up story to my previous series, Budding Brains and Hearts. It’s been a full year since Raz left for training, and for this whole time he and Sasha have craved each other. Finally, they have their chance to be together once more. They need to make up for some lost time~</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Razputin Aquato/Sasha Nein</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. One Year Later</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It’s been just over a full year since Raz had left to begin his official training and employment with the Psychonauts. His private lessons with professional agent Sasha Nein had put him ahead of many of the incoming students, and his natural psychic defenses pushed him ahead even further, placing him the spotlight for the instructors and making him a hero to some fellow students, while others viewed him as a national if not at least social threat. </p><p>    At the start of his training, Raz always tried to find some time to sneak away to try to psychically connect with Sasha, but that became extremely difficult due to distance, time restraints, scheduling, and simply the boy being mentally exhausted after training. It was still a rare treat to link minds for a few precious moments, it was almost like being in the same room for a bit where he could actually tell Sasha about his day. The man always seemed pleased to just sit and listen, though he never said anything about his own duties. Confidentiality and all. Classified information. When the psychic link became impractical, Raz turned to emails. He sent Sasha what started as daily and turned into weekly updates on his training. </p><p>    Then one day Sasha sent a hand written letter. Raz had been sitting at breakfast as names were called off for the mail list, and he’d almost missed his own name. He never expected to get any mail, and was very curious as to whom it could have been from. The envelope was very neat, seemed to be good quality paper and all, but looked very plain. When he opened it, however, a familiar lingering scent of saddle wood and smoke reached him, and before he opened the letter he knew who it was from. Two small pieces of paper were folded neatly inside, written on in small scribbled handwriting that was at first a bit tricky to decipher, but the boy spent his morning break in his room laying back in his bed with his legs dangling from the side kicking back and forth as he held the letter over his head reading. His heart felt like it was fluttering in his chest as Sasha explained that electronic communication was efficient but easily intercepted, and thus his future communication would be via written mail. Sasha explained the quiet of his house, and that he was always happy to be on a mission to distract him from the emptiness he found without the boy around.     </p><p>    He’d written of his research in brief, and then started going on about pretty nonsense things. New recipes? Inquiries about playing an instrument? It wasn’t until the very end of the letter that it started to make sense. Sasha mentioned that he found one of Raz’s comics he’d left, and suggested to the boy he read it again. Raz didn’t need to, he knew the comic so well, and remembered there was a secret code style in the back for junior Psychic spies! He had to wait until that night to come back with a pad of paper and a pencil, and started decoding the message. It took him a while, reading by a small book light and listening for anyone outside the door... it WAS after lights out after all... but he was finally able to decipher the complicated code. </p><p>    ‘I miss you.’</p><p>    From that night on, Raz would take some time to write to Sasha a little bit each night, adding in his own little coded hints as well. He would mail the letter off every Monday, and he’d receive a letter every other Friday. He kept them all in their envelopes under his mattress, or at least he did until one of the other psy-cadets snuck into his room and found them! They almost found that punk brain-blasted all over the cafeteria when they broke up the fight. It was after that event that one of the teachers taught Raz to psychically recall written documents and store them in a mind vault, which kept prying eyes away from his secrets. It was very hard for Raz to actually get rid of the letters, but as a Psychonaut he needed to trust in his abilities to remember, and show his professionalism. He did keep the very first one he’d received, and just hid it extra carefully. It was too special to throw away. </p><p>    It’d been over a year. Now with official training, two mission shadows, and hours upon hours of extra Psychonaut administration work under his belt, Razputin Aquato was released for his first earned vacation time away from training. He had three weeks to enjoy himself. Yes his family wanted him to make sure and visit, but his latest letter made it very clear where he wanted to go first, and Sasha’s response solidified those plans. Raz sat near the back of the inconspicuous bus that drove him and a number of other cadets towards Stem City, where Sasha Nein would be waiting to pick him up.</p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~</p><p>    Sasha Nein breathed slowly in through his nose, and out through his mouth with a soft elongated sigh. He couldn’t escape the excitement of seeing his young protege again after so long, but he also had his personal image to consider. He sipped at a small cup of very dark espresso with a lemon wedge on the rim adding an acidic bite of freshness to the chocolate and fruity tones of the concentrated brew. He had shown up just recently, and was hoping he would not be waiting long for the bus to arrive. Coffee prices were murder in the middle of the city, and his heart could only take so much chemical stimulation before risking a flat out heart attack. </p><p>    Now, had Sasha been your average Psychic agent, Raz may have been able to sneak up unnoticed. The metaphysical blanket he’d draped over himself to muffle his psychic signature from giving away his presence was well practiced. Sasha, however was not your average Psychic agent. If Sasha felt such an unknown muffled presence around him, he would be on his guard, diving his own mind into that of the intruder in a preemptive strike. This presence, however, was very familiar. It radiated with childish humor, exciteful wonder, and  a certain quality that buzzed like the caffeine in his drink. </p><p>    He waited patiently. Sasha wanted nothing more than to turn and greet his student, but the boy was playing his games, and he would let him have this moment for a little longer. A crafty smile pulled at his lips as he took another soft sip from his cup, exhaling with a pleasing sigh, feeling that presence grow ever closer. Was Razputin going to cover his eyes and play a simple game of ‘guess who’? Try to make the man jump with a grab and ‘boo’? Tap one shoulder and spin around the other way to ‘make him look’? Sasha was curious, but too excited to wait and find out. With a motion to adjust his glasses, Sasha pressed his fingers to his temple and created a wave of vibrations surrounding that muffled presence behind him, and gently gripped the invisible net shut, lifting the presence off of the ground before turning in his seat. His smile faltered. There was nothing behind him. </p><p>    “Hey there Aaaaaagent Nein~” Raz chuckled as his plan worked flawlessly! Agent Bodello was more than happy to not only explain to Raz how best to trick his superior, but even helped him practice throwing off his own mental presence. It was an advanced technique, but that only put him further ahead of most of his classmates. The boy pulled the opposite chair from Sasha out, taking a seat and grinning up at the man. </p><p>    Sasha turned, an impressed and slightly amused look on his face as Raz was sitting in front of him, a small brown suitcase beside his chair. “... Razputin.” He nodded gently in greeting. The two sat in silence for a few moments, neither fully sure where to even begin. It was certainly an entertaining reintroduction, but now it felt weird even to say ‘hello.’ Sasha chuckled at their own awkwardness. “Well, it’s very nice to s-oof!”</p><p>    Raz had jumped from his chair and darted over to Sasha where he sat, wrapping his arms around the man’s middle. “Mmmm!! I missed you so much!” </p><p>    Sasha wrapped his own arms around the boy, squeezing right back. “Heh... it’s wonderful to see you again my boy.” </p><p>    Raz felt his cheek blushing against Sasha’s jacket, and he didn’t let go. </p><p>    “Now ain’t that just the sweetest thang.” A waitress in a waistcoat and bow tie came around and picked up the menus, placing a small plate of biscottis in the center of the table. “This your child, hon?”</p><p>    Sasha began to shake his head to explain, but Raz grinned and turned to reply instead. “You could say he’s my daddy~” Raz giggled to himself, feeling the tense discomfort in Sasha just overflowing. “I’ve been off at school for so long, we have a lot of catching up to do.” </p><p>    “Well ain’t you just the sweetest lil thang.” The waitress gave the boys a well practiced smile and placed one hand on her hip, the other holding a tray filled with everything she’d been clearing off of the surrounding tables. “And what can I get you to drink, young man?”</p><p>    “I’ll have what he’s having.” Raz pointed back at Sasha.</p><p>    Sasha cleared his throat. “A hot chocolate for the boy.” He placed his hand over his cup to show he didn’t need anything more. “And a breakfast sandwich, please.” </p><p>    “Well alrighty. Y’all just wait right there, I’ll get that order in for ya right away.” The waitress winked and turned to head back into the little corner cafe. </p><p>    Raz turned and placed a hand on his hip. “Hey... Yee’ahll thank ah cant handle mah dranks, Mistah?” His attempt at copying the light southern belle accent of the waitress was borderline insulting, but was somehow still humorous coming from the boy. </p><p>    “You wouldn’t like it.” Sasha gave his drink one more sip and placed it down, not even trying to avoid the boy’s grabbing hand as the drink was quickly swiped up. Raz stuck out his tongue and took a sip. Sasha waited patiently, grinning as the boy’s face began to contort, the hit of sour and bitter and not a hint of sweetness attacking his taste buds. He’d taken in too much of the concentrated liquid, but through his own stubbornness he refused to spit it out. It took a few tries to finally swallow the syrupy brew, and by the time he had, Raz’s cheeks had gone slightly pale and his eyes were watering. “I… guh… I told you.” </p><p>    Sasha eyed the boy up and down before he took his seat, and he was impressed. The boy had certainly dressed for the occasion, wearing a dark blue suit that was tailored to his frame, and he lacked the normal aviator cap and goggles. He could see the bulge of a pair of sunglasses in his breast pocket along with a small folded pocket square, which matched the royal blue tie which had been tied far too small and tightly around his neck. The brown shows he was wearing had seemed to even have some polish, though they were still scuffed. Roughed up from running around no doubt. In his curiosity, Sasha reached with his foot under the table, slipping it against Raz’s leg to lift the pant leg just a bit. </p><p>    “Gck! S-Sasha, what are you-?” Raz seemed to get a bit shy, but allowed the man to seemingly play a bit of footsie under the table. </p><p>    “Hmm.” Sasha lowered his sunglasses to peek into the shade under the table. “I thought so. White socks in a blue suit, Razputin?” He pushed his shades up with the palm of his hand, and stood from his seat. “For a moment, stand up please.” He held out his hand, guiding Raz to stand in front of him. The boy was stiff as he reached around to re-tie the neck tie more properly. </p><p>    “Sasha...” Raz glanced around to make sure no one was watching. “I can tie a tie now...” </p><p>    “And you did wonderful, you only lack a bit of polish.” When he lifted his hands, the knot of the tie was a bit larger and more symmetrical, hanging nicely almost to his belt. Sasha felt down the boy’s arms. “Sleeves rolled up? Hmm... I will have to get you some cuff links.” </p><p>    “Sasha...” Raz mumbled again and then turned around, looking up with a bit of red in his cheeks. “I haven’t seen you in SO long, and the first thing you do is try to teach me how to dress?” </p><p>    Sasha raised an eyebrow, and then stood up straight, looking the boy once more up and down. “You’ve gotten taller.” It wasn’t a lie either, Raz must have gone through a small spurt, and he was sure he would be getting more spurts as he was away. He was a few inches taller than the last time. His hair was a bit longer, but neatly brushed, and he was just as lithe as always. “And you look very sharp. I only miss giving you those final touches.” </p><p>    Raz grinned up. “Hehe... it’s not all that bad. Oh hey, check this out!” Raz went into his pocket to pull out the shades and slipped them on with a cocky grin, but then he grabbed a toothpick from the table and put it between his lips and put on a stern expression. “Razputin.” He tried to drop his voice low, which worked as well as... ... well, it didn’t work very well.</p><p>    Sasha shook his head and swiped the toothpick from Raz’s lips. “Don’t pick up bad habits. But the glasses... ... they work.” </p><p>    Raz broke into a grin, and they both hugged once more before taking their seats. Soon Raz’s hot chocolate and breakfast sandwich were delivered, neither taking long for him to completely devour. The two finally got a chance to talk in person after so long, and it felt almost like no time had passed at all, and yet they had missed so much. They talked about the letters they had sent and received, and Raz admitted to being forced to throw them away, but also to keeping his first one, which got Sasha blushing. </p><p>    By the time Raz was finished with his meal, Sasha’s hand was shaking slightly from too much caffeine and not enough nicotine. He would have smoked right there and just hidden the memory from the waitress to keep her from noticing, but another family with a young boy themselves were nearby and he didn’t want to be inconsiderate. He suggested they walk to a nearby park and just enjoy the late morning before settling down. He left some money on the table and was only two steps out of the cafe patio when he felt Raz’s hand slip into his, and he gently squeezed it. While they couldn’t show their true affections somewhere in the open like this, he could feel the tension of want between them, but a Psychonaut is patient. They would wait until the right time. </p><p>    Sasha walked slowly, Raz’s legs moving at a nice brisk pace to keep up as they found a nice long walkway through the park, the noise of the city slowly dying away as they found themselves surrounded with more fields and trees. For a little bit, they didn’t speak, only enjoyed being close to each other, but that didn’t last long as Raz began to remember some of the lessons he had been forced to endure, and especially the extra lessons he received from Milla, and began revealing these experiences to Sasha. </p><p>    They walked and talked until they found themselves in front of a fountain near the center of the park. Sasha finally released Raz’s hand and took a final draw from his first smoke, exhaling the smoke through his nose as the butt floated towards the nearest ashtray. He took a seat, the mist from the flowing water feeling cool on the back of his neck. He enjoyed the quiet of his secluded home. As much as he enjoyed the practicality and convenience of the city, being somewhere that whited out the noise of the hustle was always a welcome pause. </p><p>    Raz grinned and looked around. There was a busy playground area off in the distance, a small building with restrooms in the other direction, and a couple of guys reading a newspaper with a boy sitting on a bench nearby, but around them directly it was very quiet. No one was hanging out at the fountain. He grinned excitedly and tucked his little brown suitcase against the edge of the fountain out of the way. He pocketed his sunglasses and went to his inner pocket to pull out his signature goggles. </p><p>    Sasha had closed his eyes for a moment to just take a deep breath, but when he turned to the boy, he raised an eyebrow. “And what are you doing, Razputin?”</p><p>    “Showin’ ya something cool.” Raz did his best innocent impression, which made anyone who knew him nervous. He slipped his goggles over his head and pulled them over his eyes, the rims of the lenses pulsing with a glow of psychic energy before he slowly slipped out of sight. </p><p>    Knowing where Raz was, Sasha was able to follow the feel of his mind despite the boy showing off his invisibility. This was something Raz was always able to do, so he wasn’t sure what he was meant to be showing hi- ... Oh.</p><p>    He heard Raz hop onto the edge of the fountain, and watched as slightly damp footprints formed in the mist of the spraying water. He felt the boy step over on either side of his hips, the tight grip on his jacket lapels, and the warm breath on his face. Sasha had forgotten how direct Razputin could be when he really wanted something, and his eyes went slightly wide behind his glasses when he felt Raz’s unseen lips press against his. He heard Raz moan, and felt his lips shift as the boy tilted his head. He mimicked Raz’s relieving sigh, but felt his chest tighten as he just imagined anybody realizing what was going on in the middle of the park... </p><p>    It took a few moments for Sasha to imagine how he he would look sitting there with his lips puckered and moving like a gaping fish, so with a quick glance and a finger press to his temple, Sasha felt the cold sweeping feel of him slipping out of sight. He still wasn’t able to see Razputin, which was good as that would mean the boy lost concentration, but he was still able to feel him. He reached his arms around the boy’s back, letting one hand slip up under his jacket, feeling just a bit closer rubbing his thin dress shirt. </p><p>    Raz had been thirsting for this since he left over a year ago, but for the past week he’d almost been salivating for it. The memory of their kisses before were held preciously in mind, but having it happening again was a thrill. His heart thumped quickly in his chest, his face felt flush, and if he were being honest, Raz felt his pants tighten in the groin. He didn’t try to hide the fact either, moving his hands from Sasha’s jacket to the man’s face, pushing himself forward until he felt his tented trousers press against Sasha’s chest. He felt Sasha tense up and gasp when he felt it, and that just made the boy want more. He pushed his smaller less experienced tongue passed Sasha’s loose lips, tasting that lingering smoke. Memories of their times in the woods and in Sasha’s bed flooding back fresh in his mind. The smells and tastes and feels of the man pushing him back into that frame of mind. </p><p>    Sasha felt his own mental defenses waring down as Raz pushed forward, but he did not want it to be over. He focused for just a moment to solidify himself. How far dare he go? He allowed the boy to lead this kiss and to push their boundaries, but if he were to step forward as well, they could lose their ability to focus on being unseen by the people around. Would Raz even notice? Maybe it would be almost a punishment for being so needy and impatient. All of these thoughts had even Sasha moaning softly as his young protege licked deeply against his own tongue. The man’s larger and stronger hand finally slipped down Raz’s back, his fingers snaking past the boy’s belt. </p><p>    It was Raz’s turn to gasp as he pulled back from the kiss, but Sasha followed, their lips still grazing as the man whispered, “Shhh... keep your concentration. We don’t want others to see you like this, no?” </p><p>    Raz gulped and a whimper escaped his throat when Sasha’s tongue slipped past his teeth, muffling him from making too much noise. Those long strong fingers slipped down until they were swiping teasingly back and forth, feeling out the shape of Raz’s butt. Raz felt he should be instinctually pulling away from such treatment, but felt himself pushing his hips back, his fingers curling into Sasha’s hair as those fingers pressed now up and down the defined crack. They pushed strong enough to slip between his cheeks just a bit, and fuck he wanted more. He wanted those fingers to dig in deep, he wanted to scratch that itch that has been growing inside of him since he’d left, he wanted-</p><p>    “Excuse me!” </p><p>    Raz jumped and squealed, turning around and seeing a guy and a gal walking together looking at him with horrified looked on their faces. “Um... I...uh... s-sorry, I just, um...” Raz’s face was scarlet as sweat formed on his brow. </p><p>    The guy turned his girl to keep walking. “If you’re gonna practice making out, do it private, you perv.” They walked away, but the man turned around for one more comment, “And you shake your ass like a stripper!” </p><p>    Raz flinches and bit his lip. He awkwardly waved at the retreating couple. “Thanks... you too...?” Raz turned to the empty space in front of him, lifting his goggles. “Uh... Sasha?”</p><p>    “Right here.” Sasha had slipped away from the fountain and stood in front of the boy, making him jump when he spoke! Sasha caught the boy’s jacket to keep him from falling back into the fountain. </p><p>    “Gah! Y-you... You made me loose concentration!” Raz pulled his goggles off and stuffed them into his pocket, catching his breath as his heart tried to thump out of his chest from the added fearful tension. </p><p>    “Well, young man, you were the one who decided to play this little game.” Sasha released the boy so he could hop off of the fountain edge. He looked around, and it seemed no one else had noticed their playfulness. The children still played blissfully unaware, the people on the bench were still nose deep in their newspapers... just the couple who happened to walk by. </p><p>    “W-well... I didn’t know when YOU were planning on making a move.” Raz picked up his suitcase and sighed. “I just... MISSED you, and... well, I wanted... I’ve BEEN wanting to-“</p><p>    “Shhh...” Sasha raised a finger and pressed it to Raz’s nose. “I know.”  Sasha took a knee and ruffled Raz’s hair. “My house is a good few hours from here. But I knew you would be tired and impatient, and probably a little grumpy from the bus ride.” </p><p>    “Hey...” Raz narrowed his eyes and scrunched his nose. </p><p>    “So...” Sasha checked his watch. “Normal check out time is around now. We can check to see if there is a room ready at our hotel.” </p><p>    “H-hotel?” Raz’s expression changed instantly. “You mean-“</p><p>    “I mean let’s go, my boy.” Sasha stood and rested a hand on Raz’s back, guiding him forward once more. “We can get room service for lunch. Take a nice long shower...”</p><p>    “Do they have a pool?” Raz excitedly asked. </p><p>    Sasha grinned. Raz was so simple for someone so unpredictable and talented. </p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~ </p><p>    The hotel was luckily largely vacant, and a room was ready for an early check in. Sasha had already left his bag with the reception before he’d gone to the cafe that morning, and it had been delivered to the room. As soon as they went inside, Raz took a running jump for the bed, landing in the pile of half a dozen pillows that seemed to come standard. A roll away cot had been placed inside of the closet to be pulled out later, but had only been ordered to avoid any concerning glances from the staff for ordering a single bedded room for him and the boy. </p><p>    “Ahh, hotel beds are always so clean~!” Raz rolled over and turned to stretch his legs over the side of the bed, kicking off his shoes before rolling back and squishing a pillow against him playfully. </p><p>    “That is one word to describe it.” Sasha glanced around the room for a quick inspection. As an agent he had been forced to stay in many styles of hotel around the world, and was always weary of the many times overlooked filth left in these places. He had been particular with the hotel this time, and was not fearful as much as he was just cautious. He would at least be switching the pillow cases with his own before going to bed. He decided to go check the bathroom at the very least before settling in. </p><p>    Raz removed his jacket, tossing it over the chair by the window before scooting forward to sit on the edge of the bed. He loosened the tie Sasha had so carefully straightened before, and unbuttoned the top button of his shirt to be comfortable. He crossed his legs at the ankle and waited. He knew Sasha would hesitate all night long if left to his own devices, so he would need to take some initiative. He smiled when Sasha came back into the room, shutting the bathroom door before turning to see him, freezing in his steps. Raz knew the look he was giving his superior agent. He’d practiced it in the mirror many many times in preparation for this moment. Raz leaned back very slightly, lifting one hand, giving a beckoning motion with his finger. Sasha only hesitated for a split second before walking closer to the bed, and Raz stood up on the bed, coming just a hair short of even with the man. </p><p>    “Sasha.” Raz pressed a hand to the man’s chest to steady himself on the soft surface of the bed. He pressed a finger to the man’s lip before he could answer, and then slipped his hand between Sasha’s jacket and sweater, pushing the coat over one shoulder, and then the other, letting it fall to the ground. He knew Sasha would feel a moment of concern with his coat falling as opposed to being properly hung, but he used his fingers to hold the man’s chin, keeping him looking at him. “I... have been wanting you for so long. Your letters were so innocent, and your words always so supportive, I know you wanted me to be comforted and focused. But every time we were able to connect with our minds, and I was able to feel you echoing in my head...” Raz lowered his hand and let it rest on Sasha’s groin. The bulge throbbed between his fingers, and the boy actually felt a twinge of fear mixed with his excitement. He took in a deep breath. “W-wow... I mean... Whenever I could feel you echoing in my head... I would feel what you really wanted.” He moved his hand up and down, feeling more impressed and intimidated by the size. He’d forgotten... it’d been so long. “Don’t lie to me, Sasha Nein. We don’t have long to enjoy ourselves before I’m sent away again. You want this, don’t you?”</p><p>    Sasha didn’t trust himself for a moment to speak. It was clear that Razputen had practiced that little speech a few times, but it wasn’t any less exciting to hear. He breathed slowly through his nose, and then lifted his hands. Raz seemed to flinch, as if afraid Sasha was going to brush him away, but the man only took a hold of the loosened tie, and with a somewhat uncharacteristic jerk he pulled it off and tossed it aside. His eyes slowly fell as he began unbuttoning the boy’s shirt one button at a time. He could feel Raz watching him as he continued on, finally opening the shirt fully. Raz wore no undershirt, and as it fell back Sasha tossed it aside to the floor, looking his boy up and down. </p><p>    Raz panted slowly as he felt small pleasant shivers as the cool air across his skin was pierced with those hot hungry eyes seeming to memories his naked torso. Sasha leaned forward, and Raz leaned as well, but Sasha lowered his head towards the boy’s neck. Sasha inhaled softly before kissing Raz’s chest, and then again lower. He slowly sank to his knees, leaving a trail of kisses until he reached the boy’s belt. Sasha hesitated as he considered simply using his teeth for the act of stripping the boy further, but so much of his mind screamed at him for how ludicrous and inefficient that would be. Thankfully Raz took the moment to reach down, quickly and with shaking hands pulling his belt open, pushing his pants down without unbuckling or unzipping, leaving himself in his plain underwear. He’d reached for those as well, but Sasha slipped his hands to hold Raz’s, leading the boy’s grip to his head. </p><p>    Sasha leaned forward again and kissed the small throbbing bulge in Raz’s underwear, feeling the boy tense and shiver. He took a breath of the boy’s smell, and sighed over the thin cloth still covering him, spilling the warm breath over his lap. Raz was shivering, needful, biting his lip... but Sasha knew they still had a bit of time. This was meant to be savored after so long. </p><p>    Sasha’s fingers found the elastic band, pulling them slowly over Razputen’s hips. He felt himself stiffen as he pulled, Raz’s relatively small penis being pulled down until springing up, the tip wet, the foreskin still tight around the head. Sasha gulped, feeling his mouth water as he pulled the underwear all the way down, feeling the hands on his head push as the boy kept his balance, stepping out of the clothes and kicking them away. </p><p>    Sasha swallowed, licked his lips, and placed a hand on Raz’s hip, his fingers reaching around to squeeze semi firmly into his buttock. With as much patience as he could muster, Sasha leaned forward and pressed his lips to the base of that throbbing dripping little cock. His breath was shaking as he sighed, and he let his lips drag to the tip, feeling the wetness against his lips before parting them and letting himself push forward. Raz’s cock was so smooth against his tongue, and fit so nicely over his tongue, leaving a sweet salty sensation, making him salivate more. Sasha didn’t even hear his own moan as his tongue swirled, feeling the smooth shaft inside of his mouth. The hands on his head gripped more firmly, almost to the point of pain, but it didn’t stop him in the least. He let Raz’s member pull across his lips until only the tip remained, and then tightening around the head, he pushed his head forward again, pulling the boy’s foreskin slowly back. Raz squeaked as he was fully exposed, and soon the boy was tapping madly at Sasha’s head. </p><p>    “S-a-Sa-Sa-as-sash-a-“ Raz felt his body twitch and shiver, tapping and pushing at his mentor’s head. As he finally slipped out of Sasha’s mouth, he felt his legs wobble. Holy Gee, that was better than anything he was able to do to himself at HQ, but as much as he wanted it, he wanted something so much more. “Hah... w-wow...” </p><p>    Sasha swallowed, looking nervously at the boy. “I’m sorry... I went too fast.” He stood and helped to steady the boy. “I’m sorry, we can-“</p><p>    Raz pressed himself forward, cutting off the man’s words with his lips. He hungrily gripped at Sasha’s sweater, pulling at it, trying to grab lower until Sasha got the clue and lifted it along with his shirt underneath. They released the kiss to pull it over his head and toss it aside, and then Raz grabbed the back of Sasha’s neck and pulled until he leaned forward, crawling over the boy onto the bed. They found their lips again, and Raz’s socked feet slipped down, looking for and finding Sasha’s still covered groin, rubbing back and forth at the long throbbing member underneath. He felt Sasha shiver and moan, and he kept the motion up. He wanted to see Sasha in that moment of pleasure, in that instant of release. He wanted Sasha to feel that way with him again. </p><p>    They kissed ravenously, more and more like starved animals finally able to feast. The more Sasha was pushed like this, the more he forgot his own inhibitions. Raz rubbed the man’s cock with his feet through his pants, and the moment he was able to catch a breath from the kissing, he whispered very directly, “Take them off...” </p><p>    Sasha grabbed for his waist, pulling at his belt until he finally felt his legs bare to the air of the hotel room. He kicked the trousers aside and climbed further onto the bed. He went to kiss Razputen again, to feel those feet return to his shaft, but the boy pushed at his side. He panted, and eventually moved with Raz’s motions, rolling to his back as the boy climbed up and straddled him. </p><p>    Raz looked down at Sasha, the man flat on his back, panting and flushed, the eyes behind his glasses looking desperate. He knew his own eyes reflected that lustful need right back. He glanced back, Sasha still in his plain dark colored boxer briefs, tented and throbbing. He reached back and felt the strained fabric, rubbing from the base to the tip, making Sasha squirm. He turned around, swinging his legs over, sitting on Sasha’s belly as he grabbed the man’s underwear, pulling down forcefully, getting his chin slapped with a heavy firm cock. The heavy masculine smell made his eyes cross as they tried to focus on that thick meat pressed against his nose. </p><p>    “Wow...” Raz scoot himself forward and pressed his own penis against Sasha’s, seeing the insane difference, and then felt the man’s cock throb, pressing against his belly. He saw how deep it would go if... </p><p>    “Razputin...” Sasha gulped and leaned up on his elbow.</p><p>    Raz turned with a lustful grin, almost drooling. He turned around and sat somewhat awkwardly over Sasha’s lap, letting him see. “Look’it, Sasha.” He stroked Sasha’s cock, holding it against him. “Look at how much you could be inside of me... How deep you would reach...” </p><p>    Sasha’a face blushed. “...I... I don’t think...” </p><p>    “I’ve been practicing!” Raz stated excitedly. He scoot forward, sitting on Sasha’s member, feeling the length across his butt. He bit his lip and moaned, grinding a bit back and forth as Sasha gripped at the sheets, his cock being slowly jerked by Raz’s tight little butt. “Mmm... You feel so much bigger... I’ve always imagined it, Sasha.” Raz looked so lustful and hungry, his hands resting on Sasha’s chest as he continued grinding his ass against the man’s groin. “Ah... I used my fingers... a-and then Ifound a... a carrot...” Raz had a look of mixed pride and shame, but the lust pushed him through. “I haven’t had anything like you yet... but-“</p><p>    Sasha was a patient man, but his drive had crashed through any gates of restriction he had. He rolled, pushing Raz back to the bed. His arms held him up over the boy, his glasses threatening to fall, his face beading with sweat, his breaths coming nearly in heaves. His cock hung dangerously over the boy’s body. He saw Raz’s eyes filled with hope, want, and a twinge of fear. Sasha swallowed, gathering his thoughts just enough to shake his head. “I... We need to... we need lubricants...” </p><p>    Raz swallowed, quickly pointing. “My bag... front pocket...” </p><p>    Sasha hesitated but moved to the bag and checked where he was instructed. That clever mischievous boy... inside he found a large pack of condoms ranging in sizes and textures as well as a long thin bottle of water based lubricant. Orange flavored. “Razputin, where did-“</p><p>    “Nurses office... Sasha, please hurry...” Raz bit his lip and whimpered hotly from the bed. Sasha was trying to decide on which of the condoms to use when he finally just grabbed one with his teeth and dropped the rest, climbing back onto the bed. He dropped the lube to work on tearing open the condom, and Raz quickly swiped the bottle and poured some of the thick gel onto his fingers. He looked up at an impressed Sasha. “I... I’ve been wanting this a while.. I’ve practiced... Please...”</p><p>    Sasha blinked, and then opened the condom. His cock throbbed as he watched Raz slip two fingers quickly and easily under his balls and right into his butt, moving them in and out, working the lube in deep. Sasha felt himself in even greater need as he pulled the condom tightly over his tip and rolled it down his full length. He saw Raz staring as he made the motion, the boy’s fingers pushing deep as his imagination took a dive from the deep end. </p><p>    While Raz loosened himself, Sasha stole the lube himself and poured a glob over his member and spread it around. The room began to fill with the scent of oranges, mixing with the sweat and sex emanating from the man and his student. Lost in the moment, Sasha wiped his lubey hand over his chest before once again leaning over the boy, who flopped back and looked up at him. </p><p>    “Sasha...” Raz raised his legs, doing his best to wrap them around the man’s hips. “I want you inside of me... I want you to put it in...” </p><p>    Sasha nodded, and carefully scoot himself forward. The part in his mind who would have screamed for him to stop was eerily silent. He felt Raz’s body press against the tip of his cock, and he used his hand to slip himself down towards the boy’s winking hole...</p><p>    “Sasha... Fuck me... with your thick German sausage...”</p><p>    Sasha quickly placed an orangy lubed hand over Raz’s mouth. “Enough...” He kept his hand in place as he felt the hole at his tip, and Sasha pressed his weight forward. </p><p>    Raz gasped, his eyes widening as he felt that member push. This was bigger than any of the carrots he’d been able to find... and there was no tapered tip, just a thick head pressing slowly but unyieldingly, more pressure pushing forward. Raz began gasping, grabbing the hand around his mouth and holding it tighter against him, whimpering into the strong grip. </p><p>    “Hah.... Almost Razputin... Just... relax... and-!” Sasha felt the pressure give way as Raz’s entrance released, and he felt himself sink inside. </p><p>    Raz’s eyes shot open wide and rolled up slightly, tears gathering and beginning to drip across his cheeks. It felt so... DEEP! So full, so much... chemicals were rushing through this body, his mind was afire with emotions, snuffing out his own thoughts and doubts. He felt his legs tighten, their grip only pulling Sasha further as his own cock twitched. He didn’t even register the cum his little cock spurt over himself. </p><p>    Sasha felt Razputin’s legs tighten, his hole clenching, and he slowly moved just a bit inside, rocking back out again. He would not get deep today, this was such a big step. The boy was so tight... so hot inside... and the thought of what he was doing drove his mind off of a cliff into the void. He was really doing it. This was not a mental game, not a simulation, this was his young Razputin... He noticed the boy’s face, and quickly removed his hand. “R-Razputin, I’m sorry, I-“</p><p>    “Yes...” Raz gasped and his hand trailed down his chest through pools of cum to his tummy, right over his own cock. “It’s... it’s really happening... Sasha...” Through the strained tears, Raz smiled, feeling Sasha’s movements deep inside of him. “W-we’re... we’re making...” </p><p>    “Razputin...” Sasha began to move again, and the two groaned, gritted their teeth, panted... they were like animals, as careful as Sasha was able to be. He felt himself so quickly coming to his own limits, but continued as well as he could. He wished he could have lasted longer for Raz... </p><p>    The condom filled heavily with seed. Sasha had not been pleasuring himself for a while in anxious excitement for this visit. He had collapsed next to the panting boy, letting his head cool before carefully removing the condom, not making any mess. He looked over to the boy, his little hole was wet and gaped, winking as if tempting his cock to come back. Sasha rolled over and very carefully sat up on the edge of the bed. He needed to calm himself for a moment. If he wasn’t careful, he would wreck them both before their first night was done. </p><p>    As he sat catching his breath, Sasha felt a cool sweaty hand rest on top of his. he looked over, and Raz was looking dreamily up at him. Raz smiled wide. “Sasha... I missed you...” </p><p>    Sasha sighed, smiled, and leaned down to kiss his little Razputin. “I missed you too.”  He would give them a few more moments... and then they would shower. Together, preferably. </p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~</p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~</p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~</p><p>    “So, who’s the kid?” A large man sat at the hotel lobby bar, a fog of thick smoke spilling from between his teeth, a thick dark cigar burning with an inch of ash hanging from between his fingers. He wore a large black coat and a fedora, his single eye bloodshot but unmoving, the other covered with a match, focused intensely on the stairs that led to the rooms above. </p><p>    “Guess it was an old student or something. Pretty pervy, huh?” Another man, thinner but just as sinister looking looked up from his martini. He wore a pale grey suit with a red tie, his face pointy and rough with stubble, a thick scar running from his scalp down over one of his eyes, replaced with baby blue glass, and down to his chin. “Here I thought he’d be meeting with that Agent Bodello chick.” </p><p>    The first man nodded and took another drag off of his cigar, the ashes falling to the floor. He blew heavily into the room. “How’s the angle?” </p><p>    “Heh, perfect as always. I told you, I’m a pro.” The thinner man looked down to what looked like his phone, an image of Sasha lifting the boy from the bed, cradling him to the bathroom. A large red blinking light was in the corner, which the man pressed to stop the recording. “And that’s a job well done. We can leave a message for him at the desk. He’ll have to pay up to keep this out of the open.” </p><p>    “Hmmm...” The larger man turned to glance at the man putting away his device. Next to the second man sat a boy who sat with his eyes half shut. The boy was dressed in a nice school uniform, the hat that normally covered his gaze rested on the table in front of him. He had one pale blue eye, the other dark brown and bloodshot, and a scar ran across them both, reaching from ear to ear. He looked completely unfocused, his mind completely gone from his head. “This was too easy...”</p><p>    “I love an easy gig.” The pointy man stood and left his chair untucked as he shoved the large hat back on the boy and shoved him to his feet. “The new kid makes it so much easier... his brainwaves just make us invisible, even to a pro like Sasha Nein.” </p><p>    The large man grinned as he bit into his cigar, holding it in his teeth as he stood. “We should take the kid.” </p><p>    The other man raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”</p><p>    “Insurance policy. To make sure Sasha Nein doesn’t drag his feet with the blackmail payment.” He gave a chuckle, that transformed into a dirty cough, sucking on his cigar as he began to walk. “They check out in the morning. You make sure to get a nice taxi, I’ll make sure the kid gets in it first. Ain’t no way Sasha Nein can stop us... not without his partner.” </p><p>    “I hope you know what you’re doing.” The other man guided the boy along, the trio of psychic spies walking unnoticed by all.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Cross my Heart and Hope to Die...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Raz finds himself in the hands of some very unruly men... They want to hurt him. </p><p>Warning: Scenes of rape and abuse</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Raz awoke with an alarming jump, a sudden almost roaring sound in one ear! He tried to move, but his arms and legs felt...stuck. And he was already sitting up. When he tried to open his eyes, a searing bright light nearly blinded him, forcing his eyes shut tight once more. He groaned, and the sound came again, hurting his head and his ears. </p><p>    He tried to take a breath, trying to wrap his head around the situation just like he was trained. His head felt like he was swimming in a pool of syrup, just heavy and slow with nothing to grab on to, but he needed to focus. The Psychonauts taught you over and over again that when you can’t find your feet, when your own mind is not working, just go with your instincts. Those instincts have been adjusted and forged with repetition during training. Bring in data from your available senses, remember them, use them. What was that sound...? The intervals were regular, it was moving a distance each time... moving furniture? Yes... scraping across the ground, vibrating drawers, wood and brass dragging on concrete. </p><p>    Next... the light. Raz allowed himself to squint his eyes open. How bright was it really? It encapsulated him in a brilliant halo of white, but as his eyes adjusted the whiteness subsided, and he started to see shadows. A shape. A... lamp? A lamp! He had a lamp shining in his face. Weird. As the light became manageable, Raz looked down at his arms. He was dressed... but he didn’t remember waking up that morning, did he? He tried to move again, but could see that his arm was bound in... tape and orange cable... to the armrest of an... office chair? Things were coming together like a snapshot of a page of a book where he’d skipped a few chapters. </p><p>    The roaring scraping sound came again, and Raz turned his head, trying to focus his vision a bit further. There was a big man pushing a desk to a far wall. In fact, most of the furniture in this place, wherever this place was, was pressed along a far wall, making for a large open area with pulled up carpet, flickering fluorescent lights, yellowed windows... But how did he get here?</p><p>    Before catching the attention of the strangers around him, Raz closed his eyes again and took once more deep breath, trying to remember. He started with the night before, because he definitely remembered going to bed. What had they done? Where did they go? Sasha helped Raz to shower... Then he lounged out by the pool, reading a book in a nearby poolside lounger while Raz napped... They had room service, ordering slices of lasagna... Sasha rubbed his back and put a small cool pack on his butt before putting on some trash police tv and they just laid there until they fell asleep. And then... they didn’t have breakfast because Sasha wanted to get them back home quickly. He was checking them out at the front desk and Raz went out to the cab.</p><p>    ...Wait, the CAB! That’s right! Sasha had his car, but when Raz went outside he was ushered towards a cab, and when he got in someone grabbed him. He’d struggled and fought, but he was stuck with something in his neck. it burned, and everything went all fuzzy, and then... he woke up here. He was kidnapped! But Sasha would have been after him, surely... he’s probably going to be rescued any second now! Not... not that he NEEDED to be rescued of course. Just that these guys have no idea who they’re messing with! </p><p>    “Ey, Agent Nein’s brat is up.” </p><p>    Raz turned his head, the man pushing the desks walking towards him now. He was just a shadow beyond the ring of light cast by the lamp at first, but as he stepped closer he came into focus. The man was big, probably taller than Sasha Nein, but his shoulders were much wider and he had a short thick neck. He wore a sweat stained white button down shirt, the buttons straining to hold the muscled chest inside. The sleeves were rolled up, showing off dark tattoos up his forearms, some of the patterns looking almost like they were dripping fresh. Raz was memorizing as many details as he could in case he needed to relay it later to catch this guy, but the man’s dirty calloused fingers snapped in his face, making him look up into his eyes, still shadowed by a large fedora. The man had a patch over one eye, his other so bloodshot it looked like he hadn’t quick got the hang of blinking yet. </p><p>    Raz swallowed, his spit feeling thick on his tongue. “Man, they told me you were ugly, they never said you were a cyclops.” Raz saw the shocked expression for a moment. He was of course lying, but slipping that doubt in early could sew some new information. He had no idea where he was, who this was, what he was doing there... but if he could get the man correcting him, just talking in general, he could fish out something new.</p><p>    A new voice chimed in from behind. Much more nasally. “Hey hey, Al, calm down. The kid’s just playin around.”  The new figure slipped into Raz’s peripheral vision, walking slowly, pushing a small wheelchair with a frail looking figure sat inside. The man was wearing a clean white suit with a thin black tie, silver and gold rings on his fingers, old fading tattoo ink scrawled over his knuckles. His nose was pointy, hair greased down and flat against his scalp. He had a bright blue eye, but just the one... the other scared up and replaced with a piece of similarly blue glass. “He wont know nothin unless you tell it to him, so watch what you say.” </p><p>    “You ain’t the boss around here, Needler.”</p><p>    “Neither are you, Al, so shut it.” The men glared back and forth until they both broke eye contact just to each stare a single eye at Raz. </p><p>    Raz gulped. He wasn’t getting a lot, but he knew these guys knew who Sasha was... yet they kidnapped him anyways. That was dangerous information. He tried to figure out anything he could, but his mind felt so sluggish... probably from whatever drug they injected him with before. He tried to consider his options, and wanted to keep the guys talking while he thought. “S-so...” </p><p>    Al, the big guy in the fedora, snapped his fingers in Raz’s face again to cut him off, turning back towards his partner or whatever Needles was. “Everything ready?”</p><p>    Needles raised an eyebrow, locking one of the wheels of the chair in front of him with his foot. “Is the camera set?”</p><p>    “Yeah.”</p><p>    “Then we’re ready.” Needles shook his head slightly, pulling a pocket watch out of his pocket and checking the time as he began walking out of the light. </p><p>    “Uh-“ Raz cleared his throat, trying to address the thinner man. “What time is it?” Not only did he genuinely want to know, but he also didn’t want to start whatever it was they were planning. It couldn’t be anything good. </p><p>    Needles looked over to Raz, and then stepped closer, holding his watch out, dangling it from its thin gold chain. It shook and gentle swayed in the air, but Raz could see it was almost one in the afternoon. He’d been out for hours. The watch was jerked up and caught in Needles’s boney grip with a click. “It’s show time.” </p><p>    The man walked away again, and Al, the lug, had walked back into the shadows, leaving Raz alone. At least he thought he was at first, until he remembered the wheelchair. Raz looked up and saw a boy smaller than him wearing a very plain school uniform. All dim grays and dark blues, socks that nearly went up to his bare knees, short shorts, a jacket and tie, and a hat that covered his eyes. His lips were lax and expressionless, tufts of sickly pale yellow hair sticking out just over his nose and around large reddish ears. </p><p>    “Psst...” Raz tried to gently shift his weight to roll his chair closer to the other kid, but the bindings on his arms and legs gave him very little room to move, and he ended up just wiggling in place. “Hey... are you being held here too?” The kid didn’t answer, only lowered his head further. “Hey, don’t worry... I’ll get you out of here, okay? I’m a Psychonaut... I’ve got a plan.” A total lie, but he’d EVENTUALLY come up with one, and getting this kid on his side would be a good step in the right direction towards escape. Always better to have a group. </p><p>    Raz’s eyes shot up when a small red light turned on from just beyond the darkness. That would be the camera Dee and Dum mentioned before. The young Psychonaut took a deep breath and held his tongue. He decided right then that whatever they were going to try to make him say, he wouldn’t say it... not a random message, no begging... oh, maybe he could blink Morse code his location! Wait, he didn’t know his location... or any Morse code… </p><p>    Al stepped back into the light. He clenched his fists tightly until the knuckles audibly cracked, and then walked behind out of Rzputin’s vision. He felt the strong heavy grip of the man’s hands on his shoulders, holding him facing the camera. From the darkness he heard Needle’s nasally voice. </p><p>    “Agent Sasha Nein. We are the One-Eye Jacks. By now not only are you aware that we have taken possession of your student, but you have no doubt received our gift from the desk of your hotel.” Raz listened to the message, looking from side to side through the darkness trying to see anything beyond the spotlight he was in. He was curious about what this ‘gift’ was, but as if on cue another light showed from behind him, and he could just make out through the reflection of a dark window in front of him that it was a video of him and Sasha naked in bed together. Raz’s cheeks turned scarlet as his own voice loudly whimpered and called out as Sasha’s heavy grunts pounded in time with his movements on the screen. Thankfully it was short lived, and the video turned off. Needles continued, his voice straight and emotionless. “Of course I’m sure you would not want this information to be released to your superiors. We would not like this either, as it would of course shine a light into our own organization... So we would like to make a compromise.    </p><p>    “Two million dollars, delivered in cash, twenty dollar bills, unmarked and untracked. You will leave this with your concierge at your hotel. They have instructions to forward the money along. It will be checked thoroughly before final delivery to us. This is the price of keeping this film from reaching your superiors at the Mother Lobe. As for your ward...” </p><p>    On cue, Al strengthened his grim, making Raz grimace against the painful squeeze. </p><p>    “He will be held as an insurance policy until the money has been fully accounted for, to make sure you do not delay. He will be released after your first deposit. Then I expect you to hold your tongue about the One-Eye Jacks. If we smell any Psychonauts poking their minds into our business, your video will be released en masse. You keep them off our backs, and your secret remains as such. And please, Sasha Nein... Don’t keep us waiting.”</p><p>    As the camera rolled, Al finally released Raz’s shoulders, reaching down in front of him to roughly grab at the boy’s right leg. Raz tried to squirm away, but the brute easily held him down as he flicked out a long thin knife in his free hand. Fuck, THAT! Raz had tried to delay as long as he could to be rescued without resorting to direct violence, but once you pull a knife all bets are off. Raz quickly gathered his anger, frustrations, and his will to do damage, and compressed it in his mind. He rocked his body back as hard as he could to lean the chair back just enough to see the big man’s stupid face, directing all of his bunched up emotions forward before letting himself release! </p><p>    Raz felt the release, but his head began to swim and spin and mesh... he felt his anger become just confusion and dizziness, psychic energy weakly trickling from around his eyes. He felt sick, as if he’d just spun around in one of the poorly constructed carnival rides from the circus for too long, and he collapsed back into the chair. </p><p>    Al grinned with smoke stained teeth, grabbing once again for the boy’s leg. “Kid’s got some fight in him... too bad. That’s going to make it all the worse for him, and better for me.” He flicked the knife between Raz’s legs, the tip only dragging along his pant leg before he tossed it aside. Gripping with both hands, the brute pulled and ripped the leg completely down the seam, exposing Raz’s leg from the ankle to the crotch of his underwear. Al’s rough fingers gripped and roughly massaged his thigh, making Raz squirm and try to pull away, but his ankles were still held open tightly with whatever bindings they had him tied up in. “Watch, Sasha Nein. This is the boy you chose as your little lover, you filthy pedo. Man, he’s got such nice skin, huh? Bet you wish you’d cherished it a little longer, huh?”  The man lifted his hand from Raz’s leg, only to swing it down in a heavy blow, slapping his heavy open hand against the boy’s bare thigh with a sharp sickening slap!</p><p>    Raz grit his teeth, but the shock caught him off guard, forcing a whimpering shriek from him! He felt the painful blow, which was growing into a strong burning itch as his skin turned quickly from white to pink to red, which the man was quick to point out to the camera before roughly squeezing and kneading the pained muscle. Raz was growling and trying to squirm away, but that only tempted a second hit, this time the pain shocking Raz even worse! Bad enough that he almost yelled. </p><p>    “Your little bitch makes a lot of noise, Nein. You’re gonna have to get him a nice little gag for when you’re making him your little slut. Here, I’ll show ya.”</p><p>    Raz whimpered and tried to pull at his bindings again, trying to bring his thoughts together enough to use pyrokinesis to burn through the bindings, but his mind would not focus, feeling more and more sluggish resistance the more he tried to concentrate. He heard the man behind him pulling off his belt and began to panic. “No... You... Grr!” Raz rocked in the chair, fighting as hard as he could, he didn’t want to know what was happening next! He felt the leather strap wrap around his head, and despite his struggles it was forced between his teeth before tightening, the salty bite of leather, sweat, and polish against his tongue. He shook his head and tried to bite, but the leather was thick, and he felt himself begin to drool past his lips as his mouth was held open. His words became muffled and incoherent, but his shrieks at being slapped again three times in quick succession couldn’t be held back by his gritting teeth anymore, and he began to scream! The strikes leaving wide heavy bruises that were only struck again and again! </p><p>    They laughed, pushed Raz closer to the camera, made some threats that the boy couldn’t hear as he tried to focus over the pain in his thigh. They grabbed him by the hair and held his face up, and in the reflection of the lens Raz could see himself with tears on his cheeks, drool spilling past the leather strap between his teeth... They finally let him go. The camera stopped, and the belt was pulled from his mouth. </p><p>    “We’ll send it directly to the hotel manager for express delivery to Agent Nein.” Needles picked up the camera and was messing with the buttons to get at the memory card. “Give him an hour to respond before we make another tape.” </p><p>    Al made a sound as if he wanted to argue about who the boss was again, but changed his mind. “I’m going to use the toilet.” </p><p>    “Really, Al? Too much, okay? Just meet back here in an hour, make sure you’re not seen.” </p><p>    The two continued to argue as they left, a door closing in the distance. Raz took a few minutes to organize his thoughts. The pain in his leg was throbbing, and normally he would be able to compartmentalize the pain, dulling it into his mind like ammunition. Right now, however, he wasn’t able to keep it all straight, and he was just in pain. But he was a Psychonaut, he could work through this. He had to.</p><p>    Raz took a few deep breaths, and began to focus on his physical actions. His mind was... dull right now. He hoped it was some drug or something, but until he felt his brain cleared up he was going to focus on what he COULD do. His brother had tied him up a few times, and his father taught him how to escape. It was a potential act for the circus, escaping from a number of bindings before being dropped into a pool of sharks or electric eels or something... usually he had a trick seam or a smuggled key or something, but he had practiced and learned. He relaxed, wiggled back and forth slowly, tried to work himself loose a millimeter at a time. The bindings were rubbing painfully, but he didn’t stop, working just one wrist, it’s all he needed. </p><p>    Raz lost track of time, but he finally felt his wrist slip, the tight rubber cable that had held him now loose around his fingers, which quickly pulled free. He looked around to make sure he was still alone, and eyed the boy in the wheelchair. He’d free him, but it would be easier to save them both if he could just get word out to the Psychonauts for a rescue. With his hand free, Raz was able to loosen the rest of his bindings and stand. </p><p>    His leg was in a lot of pain, but other than that he felt fine, despite his pant leg hanging around more like a tattered skirt than pants. The drug or whatever it was seemed to only be affecting his brain. Apparently these guys had underestimated Raz’s physical training. He slipped out of the light and took in his surroundings. He was in an old office building, the carpets having been ripped up, the furniture covered in dust and pushed off to the side. The windows were all taped up, but tearing through one and looking out he seemed to be high up, maybe on the tenth floor of a large building, looking down on an alleyway. No way to wave to anyone for attention from this side. And he couldn’t sent out a psychic signal either. Looking straight down, Raz could see a number of outcrops from the building. Different window ledges, some power boxes... he could climb down if he were careful about it. But that would leave the other kid...  Was that the best move? To self preserve it was best to get out of there, but as a Psychonaut he couldn’t just leave the kid behind... </p><p>    Raz went back into the room. “Hey, psst, kid? How cool are you about scaling a building?”  Raz walked up to the boy in the chair and moved to loosen his binds, but the kid’s arms weren’t tied up. He was freely sitting... maybe just too scared to move. Or maybe he was being affected by drugs, like Raz had earlier. Or maybe he actually needed the chair, Raz quickly considered, ashamed he hadn’t considered it sooner. “Uh, hey. Can you get up? Your legs work at all?” Raz touched the boy’s shoulder and gave a gentle shake, and the boy finally looked up, making Raz jump back in alarm. </p><p>    The boy’s face was scarred, a dense white line crossing from one ear to the other right over his eyes and across the bridge of his nose. The eyed turned independently looking from side to side, one of them bloodshot and brown, the other bright blue... and in a gut wrenching moment, the eyes both turned to lock onto Raz. The eyes began to spill tears down the boy’s cheek. “They... can see... you...now...” The boy whispered. And soon, Raz could hear a commotion deeper into the building. “They’re... coming...” </p><p>    “Ah, shit!” Raz had no idea what this was all about, but the kid’s eyes were, like... THE BADGUYS’ eyes! So weird and creepy, but more importantly dangerous! They saw him, and now they were coming back. If he tried to climb down, he wouldn’t get far before they could just throw anything they had down on top of him. He’d be dead long before he got out. In a panic, Raz looked around and saw an office with an open door. He grabbed the kid’s wheelchair and kicked the wheel lock, rolling him forward into the office. “Crap crap crap crap...” He shut the door, and then turned the kid’s chair to face it before locking it. “Sorry, you have to face this way... I dont want those guys seeing anything...” </p><p>    Raz looked around the office. he was hoping maybe there was an old phone or something, but all of the dark dusty equipment in the building looked old and useless. He jumped forward and started pushing things around. He hoped to find anything... a computer... a phone... a... a fax machine! He grabbed the heavy device and quickly plugged it into the wall, Some lights were flickering around, that means there must be power! He turned it on and heard the thing whirl to life. “Yes! Okay... okay, okay, fax number...” The Mother Lobe had so much tech, old and new, to pull in information from agents all around the world, and it was a Psychonaut’s duty to be able to use them to communicate in times of need. He knew there was a number, he stored it in his mind... but searching through his own memories was like looking through smoked glass. </p><p>    “Hey! Where are they!?” Al kicked one of the desks against the wall in frustration when he entered the main room, followed quickly by Needles. </p><p>    “I can only see the back of a door... start going through the offices.” </p><p>    “You are NOT the boss!” </p><p>    “Just shut up and start looking, dammit!” </p><p>    Raz listened to them argue, and then start kicking in doors. His eyes squinted as he tried to focus. The fax number... the fax number... What was...? As he started to recall, he wrote the number into the dust on the desk. It was like trying to remember an old childhood book word for word backwards, but Raz was a professional. He was finally able to get the number, just in time for the door to the office to be kicked, shaking on its hinges! </p><p>    “Hey, this one is locked!” </p><p>    “Well get it open!” </p><p>    “The fuck do you THINK I’m doing, pinhead!?”</p><p>    “DON’T call me-“ Both of the voices stopped, and both mean groaned for a moment before they stopped. “Okay... Open that door!” </p><p>    “Right.” The door shook again as Al took his shoulder to it again and again. </p><p>    Raz quickly dialed the number, grabbing a piece of paper from a nearly empty trash bin and flattening it out, and then opening the desk. Nothing, no pens, no markers... Thinking quickly, Raz bit the inside of his cheek, and used his fingers to write a barely legible SOS before putting it through the machine. It whirred and whistled, pulling the paper through just as the door caved in! </p><p>    “Gah! There... here’s the kid... where’s Sasha’a brat?” Al stepped into the office and looked around, seeing a bunch of old equipment stacked around, the one machine beeping. </p><p>    Raz was hidden under the desk, reaching into his jacket. Sewn into the lining of his coat was an old weather patch. Sasha’a first merit badge. In a panic, Raz grabbed it and tired his hardest to find a connection. He fought through the thick heavy fog around his mind, screaming silently through his thoughts. -Sasha! Sasha, help! Please hear me! Sasha Nein!- He felt his mind trying to escape, to punch through the blanket-like barrier around him, reaching down deeply into himself to find the power to push harder. -Sasha! Please!-</p><p>    -Razpu...- A voice sounded as if talking through a wall of foam... soft and miles away, but just on the other side of a wall... but the voice was cut off as Raz was thrown to the floor, the desk he hid behind being pushed out of the way. </p><p>    “THERE you are!”  </p><p>    Raz rolled out of the way of Al’s reach, turning and hopping up over the thug, grabbing the man’s hat in both hands for a bit of a boost! He decided he couldn’t take the other boy safely, and needed to just escape. If he could get out, he could find help, bottom line. He rushed out of the door, passed the wheelchair, and made a sprint for the window! He was about to reach it when a tight grip formed around his neck, and his feet left the floor! He squirmed and kicked behind him, but he didn’t connect, and as he was slowly turned around he saw Needle’s standing with his hand up, fingers pressed to his temple. A psychic?! </p><p>    A glowing blue hand was holding Raz in the air, and pulled him back into the room. Needles’s nasally voice finally cut in as Raz tried to breathe through the tight grip. “You are being far more trouble than you’re worth, brat.” </p><p>    Al practically roared from the office, pushing his way out as he struggled to pull his ruined hat off of his head. As it ripped from around his massive forehead, his eyepatch fell, forcing Raz to see the gaping hole that used to be his second eye. “That little bitch! I’ll break his fucking head!” </p><p>    “Probably a good idea.” Needles tightened the psychic grip around Raz’s throat. “Sasha will deliver the money anyways... once we dump this body we’ll split into the wind. No need to risk it for this little-“</p><p>    -No- A chilling whisper of a voice echoed in the minds of everyone in the room. -I want him alive- </p><p>    Needles hesitated, but released the psychic grip, dropping Razputin to the floor. The boy coughed and gasped for breath, but Needles didn’t pay him any mind, looking forward into the darkness. “We can’t let him escape again...” </p><p>    -You underestimated him because I’ve crippled his psychic defenses. Use that to shut him up. We’re almost done here... Sasha Nein will come for him. I need him alive as bait.-</p><p>    Raz looked around the room for the other voice, but there was no one... just that chilling whisper. He tried to stand, but a heavy foot pressed to his back, Al pushing him down to the floor. </p><p>    “Huh... no mental powers, huh?” Al looked all the more sinister grinning above the boy, strapping his patch back onto his face. “Needles, get the kid’s Psycho-portal. Let’s have a peek inside of his head. Maybe we scramble him up a bit in there. That’ll keep him from running out again.” </p><p>    “Hmm...” Needles fished into his pocket, pulling out the small red and blue door he must have taken from Raz’s pockets when they kidnapped him. “Normally I find your ideas a bit blunt and simple... but in this case it works perfectly.” The man walked forward and knelt down. “Hold him steady.” </p><p>    Raz struggled, but Al held him strongly to the floor as the second man reached out with the small door-like portal, pressing it to Raz’s forehead. It opened, and a spectral shade of Needles’s subconscious flowed from his body into the door, Raz’s eyes becoming unfocused as his mind was invaded. </p><p>    Al held the boy to the ground for only a few moments, and then the portal slammed open, and Needles was thrown back into his body, which fell back to the floor with the force! “Gah!” Needles squirmed on the ground, grabbing at his head. </p><p>    “Hey!” Al lifted Raz only to slam him firmly to the ground. “What did you do!?”</p><p>    “Guh!! Ow...” Raz squirmed inefficiently against Al’s grip. “Nothing much... your buddy tried to choke me out in my own mindscape, so I lit his psychic head on fire and buried him under a literal mountain of psychic fists for him to choke on.” It had happened so quickly in his own mind, Raz just fought back as hard as he could, and found that inside of his mind he was nowhere near as slow as he felt out here. </p><p>    The hissing whispered voice laughed in their minds. -Very good... the boy’s psychic defenses are impressive, I can only snuff out his energy around his mind, not inside.-</p><p>    Al tightened his grip. “Then I’ll break his legs for REAL! That will-“</p><p>    -No!- The voice screamed, making everyone cringe, even Needles, who was starting to get his mind put back together. -I need him. Do not break the merchandise.-  The voice stopped, but Al was silent as well, his eye twitching, his head turning, as if he was getting an idea. -Good... do it.- </p><p>    Al grabbed Raz from the ground, holding his arm like a vice as he dragged the kid towards the desks piled up against the wall. There were a number of small cases on top of the desks, and Raz was pinned down near them. Without releasing the boy, Al reached into one of the cases and brought out a capped syringe. </p><p>    “Oh, hell no. No THANK you, mister...AL.” Raz squirmed, but to no avail. The man held the syringe in his mouth as he forced Raz up onto the desks, pinning him down with his heavy tattooed forearms. The boy continued to struggle as Al uncapped the needle with his teeth, and gave him a searing cold shot right in the neck! </p><p>    His head began to swim, the room becoming blurry. He fought to stay awake, but his blinking slowed, and finally as he blinked one last time, he opened his eyes in a pool of darkness alone. It was difficult to move, he could barely lift his limbs, as if they were tied down with heavy weights. It only took him a moment to know he was in his own mental world, but his own mind seemed to be hidden away, leaving him in this empty place. It was so strange... like being in your home without any of the furniture or even walls... just a blank space you feel lost and yet at home in. </p><p>    “Boy, your empty mind is so much better, brat.” Needles materialized from the darkness, but his white suit was now black, his white tie now black, and his face was unscarred and he had both bright blue eyes. He grasped his hands behind his back and walked slowly around the boy. “I’m guessing with all of the drugs unbalancing the chemicals in your brain, you won’t be quite the bucking bronco as the first time.”  Needles grinned, a large blue glowing fist appearing next to him before swinging forward, slamming into Raz’s side, sending the boy tumbling across the dark ground! </p><p>    Raz groaned, struggling to roll onto his back, feeling as though his ribs were bent inwards as he tried to catch his breath. He coughed painfully. “Wow… did your mother teach you how to punch, p-pinhead?” He coughed again through a forced chuckle. “Seriously... you only pick on the kiddies, and even then you need them to be tied up and drugged out, huh? Man... must be embarrassing.” Raz tried his best to ready himself as he watched a fist form over him, but was barely able to lift his arm before he was slammed into the ground, the fist grinding him down heavily. </p><p>    “You are nothing but a BUG you, you...” Needles reeled back and punched forward with his psychic fist, sending Raz tumbling away again! Technically doing enough damage inside the imagination could cause some real mental damage, but he wasn’t afraid. If the kid was as strong as he seemed when he tried to attack him before, then he should be able to reconstruct his mental form many times over before succumbing to any permanent damage. Besides. He didn’t care. He tossed the boy to and fro, at first joyfully, but soon annoyingly, and then angrily. </p><p>    “Oof! Gack...” Raz spit out a tooth again, swallowing harshly as he tried to mentally remind himself that he was actually okay... which didn’t do much for the pain, but kept him from breaking apart. “You... you need to... ask your daddy to teach you.. a sport... or something...” The pain in his side when he laughed was almost unbearable, but Raz forced himself to lift his head enough to look down at the guy. He was wearing Needles down... and once the man was either too frustrated or bored, he’d leave. They weren’t trying to get information, just blow off steam. “You... should try... ballet....” </p><p>    “Gah!! You insolent, pathetic, rude, pathetic-!”</p><p>    “Y-you said that twice...” </p><p>    Everything went dark after the next hit. Needles hit too hard, and it knocked Raz outside of his own mental state, which gave him a small unconscious break. But it was very small. What seemed like mere moments later, the blackness swirled again until Raz realized he was awake, and this time he was sitting. He swallowed, running his tongue over his teeth. They were all there again. He didn’t taste blood. Everything was back to how he started, with only the memories of being beaten down to a pulp deep in his mind now. Most of those experiences would be healed or at least numbed up with some therapy, no big deal. But now there was a new problem. Al was standing right behind him. He didn’t need to see the man, he could feel him in his mind. </p><p>    “You probably think I’m pretty stupid, huh?” The large man walked into Raz’s vision. He was dressed exactly how he was outside in the real world, except his hat had been repaired, and when he turned around his eyepatch was gone, both eyes perfectly in place, no longer bloodshot. “You think I’m the big guy. The meat head. The muscle man.” </p><p>    “Hey, you said it, not me.” Raz grinned. They weren’t going to break him down... he just needed to keep them busy... Someone would get that fax, someone would be looking for him. He just needed to stall. </p><p>    Al didn’t smile, but he didn’t look upset either. Simple indifference. He removed his hat, placing it on an invisible peg to his side, which then slipped into darkness. He began unbuttoning his shirt. “You think the same as everyone. You’re not special.” </p><p>    “Well, I beg to differ. You did need to pin me to a table and drug me in order to even get into my head, so...”  Raz tried to move his arms, but once again they were heavy. His mind was not letting him control things well at all. He felt his psychic powers bubbling uselessly inside of his own brain. </p><p>    “Mmm... you overestimate your abilities, as they can be taken away. And same as everyone else, you underestimate mine. I do not blame you.” Al pulled his shirt up from his pants as he finished unbuttoning, hanging it the same way as his hat. He still had an undershirt, but Raz could see those tattoos slithered up to his chest at the very least. </p><p>    “Getting comfy?” Raz was still trying to sound cocky and confident, though his chest was starting to feel tight with nerves as the man reached for his belt. </p><p>    “You know, little boy... beating you would be nostalgic to me. It would bring me great pleasure to see you broken and crushed under a rock. But...” Al slid his belt from his waist, stepping forward and resting it around Raz’s neck, lifting his hand to roughly caress the boy’s cheek. “There are much better ways to punish you. And they’ll make me feel much, MUCH better.”  Al stepped behind Raz once more, slipping his rough strong hands down the boy’s shoulders, petting up and down his arms. “Mmm... Sasha Nein knows how to pick ‘em, doesn’t he? Were you his first, you think?” </p><p>    Raz felt his jaw clench, a shiver forcing its way up his spine as this man touched him. “Pft... Don’t be stupid... It’s not like... I mean, you don’t-“</p><p>    “You’re right. He’s had plenty of tail before, of course... but I bet you loved it as your first time, didn’t you?”  Al took a firm but slow grip on Raz’s hair, pulling him to look slightly up as his other hand reached around, dragging a finger down the boy’s chest. Raz could feel that finger dragging straight through his clothes, opening them like a zipper. Down his stomach, past his waist and down towards-</p><p>    Raz tried to buck himself, squirming in the chair. “O-oh, what, now you’re gonna... what? You’re gonna...” He didn’t want to say it, even mockingly, it felt so... wrong and... real. “Just go... blow yourself or something...” </p><p>    “Nice comeback, little boy.”  Al walked back to the front, looking right down Raz’s body. He could see the boy blushing, looking ashamed, the feeling of being looked at by someone like this dirtying. Now Al grinned. He grabbed Raz’s jaw painfully tight, forcing him to look up. “Don’t worry... if you’re a good boy, you might even get a little something out of this, huh?” He leaned forward and licked roughly up the kid’s cheek, over his nose and across his eye. Raz tried to pull away, but with his body so heavy and this man’ grip so strong, it was fighting off the inevitable. </p><p>    Raz gasped as he was pushed back to the ground, the invisible chair he was sitting in slamming to the ground. “Ah! N-no... hold on, wait a second...” Raz’s breath was catching in his upper chest, making his words soft and cracked. He was trying to push away, but he only felt Al’s hand grab his arm, rolling him over. He easily tore at Raz’s pants, the boy’s bare butt feeling the cold draft before the man bent over him, blocking the wind, his shadow heavy over him. “Look, just... I... I can’t... p-please just...” </p><p>    “Look at the big Psychonaut now. He started to beg without even being asked.” Al reached down and gripped Raz’s butt with one hand, using his thumb to spread his cheeks open. “I bet your old flame would be so proud of you now, huh?” Al pulled his heavy cock out of his pants, letting it fall between the boy’s cheeks. “You can beg all you want, boy. it’ll just make this all the better.”</p><p>    “No... wait, no... no no no...” Raz felt his body stiffen, his eyes wide as he couldn’t bring himself to even look back. He wanted to crawl away, tried to summon any kind of strength at all, but the grip only tightened, and he felt the brute behind him pushing. “Ah- no... No! Ah!” It built, pushing more... he couldn’t keep his eyes open, and Raz bit his lip, unable to stop what was happening...He felt himself tense as the man started to push inside, his dry rod seeming to grind past his hole, stabbing tearing…</p><p>    Raz didn’t remember much... he was sore, but he was wrapped in darkness again. How long had that lasted? When did it stop? Was he safe, or just waiting for-</p><p>    “And there he is.” Al’s voice echoed in the dark again, and Raz’s eyes shook as the man hung his hat once again, followed by his shirt, and then the sound of his belt being pulled from the straps. </p><p>    “J...Just stop! Go away! I... I-I don’t” Raz felt his throat tighten up as he tried to crawl away, that weight holding him back again. </p><p>    Al shook his head. “Just stop. This is getting embarrassing.” With a motion of the man’s hand, Raz felt himself being lifted a few feet from the ground. He was panting, gritting his teeth, crying again. “There there... loosen up kid.” Al roughly grabbed Raz’s jaw, kneading his fingers and thumb between his teeth through his cheeks until his mouth was forced open. “There you go. And just so you know, your teeth won‘t do you any good here. If they did, I’d knock em out first.” Al fished out his member again, letting it rest against the boy’s cheek this time. “Just accept it.” </p><p>    Raz tried to close his mouth, but the painful grip made it impossible. He grunted and tried to pull away, but he felt the man’s cock against his tongue, and started to gag as it pushed back. But it didn’t stop. Raz’s breath stopped as it pushed further, his stomach twisting and clenching as he tried to cough and gag around that thing pushing into his throat.</p><p>    “Fuck, that’s better... don’t worry, boy...  You won’t die anyways.” Al put a foot forward and pushed until he felt the boy’s nose press against him, and then began moving his hips. “Ah, yeah... your throat is tightening up... you know, you resist too much, you’ll not even remember your good old Sasha’s prick. You’ll get so filled up with mine, it’ll be the only memory left in this shit house of a brain.”  </p><p>    Raz tried to breathe, every breath fighting against the wall of flesh blocking his lungs. His eyes rolled back, tears poured down his cheeks. He wished for it to be over, to just hurry up and be done... hurry and die... just make it go away... and then his vision blurred, and the darkness came once again. </p><p>    “And there he is.” </p><p>    Raz cringed. He swallowed, the feeling like forcing down a cup of sand. His body shivered as he opened his eyes. Al was hanging up his hat. “No...” </p><p>    “You just need to relax, boy. You might even like it this time.” </p><p>    Raz fought. He bit when he could, he squirmed, he tried to crawl. He knew he would eventually return to normal and fight back, the drugs would wear off in time... until Al came with a syringe, spreading Raz’s thighs to inject him into his leg, followed by a heavy reenactment of his video to Sasha. The slapping, the bruising...He was reminded they could keep him here as long as they needed, until they got the money. Maybe Sasha wouldn’t even want him back, since he’d caused so much trouble. Wait, no, that was them just saying that... He didn’t believe that. They were just telling him things. Both of them... they were both there now... When the big one hung up his hat, the thin one removed his tie... and every time it was the same...</p><p>    “And there he is.” </p><p>    Raz never knew when it started or ended. Al continued to physically manipulate him just to use him and humiliate him, and Needles enjoyed inflicting pain on top. The thin man scratched him hard over his face… he used his belt against Raz’s back… he shoved his fingers or his cock down his throat just to watch him choke. At one point Raz didn’t say anything more. He bit his tongue, decided to take the abuse and the pain in silent surrender. He didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of knowing how much it hurt. At some point after that he started to scream again, unable to hold back further... </p><p>    “And there he is.” </p><p>    And Al hung up his hat... </p><p>    Raz was used up, yet still being used. Every time he woke he felt bruised, raw, his voice was gone yet always seemed to return enough to scream, he tasted things, his muscles hurt too much to even try to get away. </p><p>    “And there he is.” </p><p>    Raz was pricked again in the thigh. He was sure they were injecting him with more drugs in the real world, just reflecting it here so that he’d know. They wanted him to know. Needles posed him beaten and naked as a spectacle as he and Al seemingly took a break. Their talk and laughter was muffled and echoed as if they were in a large cave or something, yet they sat so close, their eyes dragging over him, drinking scotch and wine as they discussed what to do next. </p><p>    “Maybe,” Needles’s nasally voice became more clear as he stood, holding the bottle of wine in front of him. “We should give the kid a little break.”</p><p>    “You’re right. He should rest up and have a drink.” Al stood as well and began walking over to the posed boy. Raz tried to pull away, but the man’s rough hand gripped his hair and pulled back, exposing his throat as he was forced to look straight up. </p><p>    “Have a drink, little boy.” Needles pushed the wine bottle to Raz’s mouth. </p><p>Raz tried to pull away, the glass opening pushing past his lips before clinking against his teeth painfully. With one hand pulling his hair back firmly and the wine bottle moving around trying to wedge between his teeth, however, he wasn’t able to hold back long. The bottle pushed through into his mouth, and acrid bitter sweet wine started to pour over his tongue, filling his cheeks. </p><p>    “Tut tut, boy.” Needles manipulated the bottle, pushing it deeper. “You have to swallow. Have a nice long drink~” He pushed further, until the neck of the bottle forced into Raz’s throat, and the wine in his mouth flowed back. </p><p>    Raz coughed, red wine coming out of his mouth and nose and dripping down his naked front, but instead of air coming back to him, it was just more wine. He tried to catch a breath, but was forced to swallow, the liquid filling him, drowning him. His body shook as panic rose sharply! When he felt the lip of the wine bottle clip his teeth as it pulled from his mouth, Raz coughed and vomited up a good amount of the deep red liquid, gasping for air. Al released his hair, letting the boy fall forward onto his hands and knees. </p><p>    “Poor kid, you rushed him.” Al chuckled and took out a handkerchief from his pocket, reaching down to teasingly wipe the boy’s mouth. “Surely he wont enjoy the nice drink if you rush him, Needles.” </p><p>    “You’re right, I’m so sorry.” Needle’s swirled the bottle in his hand, feeling it gain weight as it refilled. </p><p>    Raz’s body shivered. He tasted acrid wine and his own bile and blood from his teeth. His nose was stuffed with snot and more wine. He could barely catch his breath. He’d always had a deep fear of drowning, he had no idea he’d be suffering that without any water in sight. He felt fingers grip in his hair again, and he shut his eyes painfully tight. “N-n-“</p><p>    “Let’s try it one more time.” Needles lifted the bottle once again, forcing it down Raz’s throat, and watched the boy struggle once again. </p><p>    When Raz woke again, he tasted the wine, which made his stomach turn. He clung to his own arms. His head was swimming more than ever, his vision was shimmering… </p><p>    “And there he is.” </p><p>    Raz began to cry again. He knew it was worthless to do so. He didn’t watch, knowing Al was hanging his hat… Needle’s his tie.</p><p>    It was happening again. Raz didn’t raise his head, didn’t try to crawl. He felt Needles’s hand grip his hair and lift his head to look at him, but Raz’s eyes did not see him. They shook, they looked away. Needles grinned and loosened his belt. </p><p>    And then Needles was gone. </p><p>    Raz felt his head fall. He swallowed hard again... and waited for the pain. He hadn’t realized the confusion and fear on Al’s face. He didn’t notice when he was alone in the darkness. He just waited, knowing what must be coming... again.</p><p>    Then sounds came. Popping. Breaking. Screaming. Silence. </p><p>    The darkness pushed over him in waves before the light slowly came back. Raz swallowed, and imagined the pain of his throat, but it was gone. The memory raw, but the pain only in his mind. His eyes tried to open, but felt like they were made of lead. He smelled smoke... Sandlewood.... </p><p>    “S-Sa...Sasha...?” </p><p>    “Shhh... rest, Razputin.” Sasha held the boy against his chest, shifting his jacket to cover the boy’s head. “You don’t need to see this.”  The man walked slowly through the wreckage of the office towards the alley window. With fast efficient thoughts his anger manifested and punched a hole through the glass, brick, and rod iron supports large enough to walk through. His feet left the ground, floating him and his boy down to the ground, where a jet was just landing on the road in front of the building. </p><p>    Agent Vodello quickly jumped out of the craft wearing a zig zag striped green and purple sweater dress, her large yellow earrings and matching necklace shining in the light as she quickly looked up at her partner holding Razputin. She was quickly followed by two other agents in green bodysuits. “Darling, you did not wait for backup...” </p><p>    “I could not wait a moment longer.” Sasha spoke plainly, walking past Milla towards the ship. </p><p>    Milla looked worryingly at Sasha’s back, then turned to look up at the hole in the building he left, and then back to her partner. “And the prisoners?”</p><p>    “You can pick up what’s left. They resisted.” He quickly added, taking a seat towards the front of the jet, holding Raz against him. He rested his forehead gently to Raz’s feeling the heat radiating off of his mind. Rotating his chair, he reached up to the overhead compartment and pulled down an aid kit, rummaging for an IV. he needed to get the boy some fluids and medicine for the drugs in his system, and then he would focus on trying to ease the boy out of the horrors in his own mind. </p><p>    Milla hesitated before levitating herself up to the hole on the 10th floor. When she saw the damage inside, she couldn’t help but gasp. It was not the worst destruction she’d seen, but she knew Sasha wouldn’t have done this kind of damage normally. He was methodical, efficient... not brutal. </p><p>    “Agent Vodello!” One of the backup Psychonauts stepped into the room from the alleyway. “Awaiting your orders, ma’am. Are the prisoners ready for...” His speech slowed to a halt as he saw the destruction. “... transport...?” </p><p>    Milla nodded grimly. “Bring a few jars, we can still question them if we take the brains.”  Agent Vodello stepped into the room and looked around at the rubble, and the bodies. She knew it was overkill, but she had to give Sasha the benefit of the doubt. He must have thought he was in danger... it must have been self defense. </p><p>    “H-hello?”</p><p>    Milla turned and looked into an office through a large crack in the door that hung on by a single hinge. Inside was a boy on the floor beside a toppled wheelchair. He was feeling in front of him. Milla tore the door aside with telekinesis, and quickly walked in, kneeling by his side. “My darling, what are you doing here!? This is such a dangerous place... Oh my...” </p><p>    The boy looked up at Milla, his eyes both milky white, a scar across his young face. He was reaching up, feeling for her. “Are... are you...? Who are you?”</p><p>    Milla leaned forward and let his small hands touch her face. “I’m a friend. come, little one, let’s get you to safety.”  She lifted the boy and left the wreckage as her fellow agents returned with glass jars to collect the perps. They needed to get back to HQ quickly. Razputin needed medical attention, and now this boy needed to be questioned and cared for. </p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~ </p><p>    Raz’s dreams were chaos... but as they went on, they became more sensible. Fears became shapes, and then images... as he came to understand their meaning, they went away. Stored somewhere deep where they could rest like a bad file deep in a drawer. No longer a mystery, just a piece of past bad news. A lesson learned. </p><p>    He felt himself wake up multiple times, the bright light above him stirring him into a temporary panic before he was able to breathe, close his eyes, and drift off again. Medicine was breaking down the excess chemicals in his blood. Someone was reaching into his mind and sweeping away bad figments, locking up safes, putting the files away. </p><p>    He finally opened his eyes once more without panic. He took in his environment. Mint green sheets. White walls. Clean window shades. Raz took three slow breaths, counting to ten through each breath to remind himself that he was again fully in control. Then, he tried to sit up. Raz tucked his elbows back and pushed, raising his head to look down to his feet. His cheeks flushed, because at the foot of his bed was Sasha Nein, sitting in a folding chair, his head resting on top of his arm on the foot of the bed. He was asleep. </p><p>    Raz watched the man for a long moment, letting himself believe he was really there. Raz was safe. Sasha made sure of it. Sasha saved him, just like he knew he would. With very slow motions as to not wake the man, Raz moved the covers. He was in a crisp green gown that matched the sheets, and underneath he was naked. It didn’t matter though. Noticing the tubes going into his arm, Raz was careful as he scoot down the bed, making stead movements until he was sitting next to Sasha’s head. He hesitated a moment, and then he leaned down and touched the man’s thinning hair. He pet down Sasha’s head, and felt his eyes tearing. It was real. He carefully wrapped his arms around Sasha’s head and carefully hugged, pulling the man to his lap. He felt Sasha’a hand rise, resting on his own. </p><p>    Raz heard the door, and he looked up. A familiar woman wearing all white, with a small Red Cross on her chest, her hair uncharacteristically swept and held back by a white band. “You’re awake, Darling.” She whispered, noticing Sasha still sleeping. “I hope you are feeling well. Sasha hasn’t left your side all night.” </p><p>    “Agent Vodello?” Raz lifted his head and released his hold of Sasha’s. he felt some color in his cheeks. “I uh... I mean, Sasha was just-“</p><p>    “Shhh... I know my partner more than anyone, I am the one person you do not need to hide from, young Razputin. Please, tell me how you are feeling.” Milla closed the door behind her before walking to Sasha’s side, gently lifting the man’s head and giving him some light taps on the cheek to wake him. </p><p>    “O-oh, you don’t have to...” Raz looked over to Sasha as the man opened his eyes. The look in Sasha’a gaze was filled with relief and worry, though he quickly slipped his shades on from his coat pocket. Raz grinned, but turned his eyes down a bit. “H-hey Sasha...” </p><p>    “Razputin...” </p><p>    “Um... Thanks fo-Oof!” Raz found himself being squeezed by the man. He awkwardly reached to touch Sash’a back, but then relaxed and nuzzled the man’s chest. And then his fingers clinged into Sasha’s jacket. </p><p>    “I’m sorry, Razputin... I didn’t... I would never...” </p><p>    The two muttered at each other, but Milla needed to be professional. She had given them a few moments, but placed a hand on Sasha’s shoulder. “Sasha, Darling, please. I must check on the boy’s health. He is safe... we have time.” </p><p>    Sasha nodded, and after a moment he released the boy, standing up and taking a step back. “Yes... very good, Agent Vodello.” </p><p>    Milla smiled and nodded. “Young Razputin, how do you feel?”</p><p>    Raz talked with Milla for a while. He was feeling tired, but all together healthy. He explained what had happened to him, both physically and mentally. He explained the heavy feeling he had, his inability to use psychic powers, and their use of drugs to make him susceptible to mental torture. He still had bad memories of what happened, though many of those memories had faded... they felt old. Probably Milla’s doing while he was unconscious. </p><p>    “Those memories... they will most likely scar, Darling. We all have scars in our minds from our work as Psychonauts... I’m sorry you have received them so young.” Milla counted out a number of pills, placing them in a small plastic cup and resting them on the bedside table for later, and carefully helped remove the boy’s IV drip. She gave him a box of juice, and called for a sandwich from the cafeteria to be brought up as well. She stayed with Raz and Sasha, letting the boy wake up fully, but they had become quiet. </p><p>    Sasha waited until Raz was almost finished eating before he knew he needed to take the next step. “Milla, what of the interrogations?”</p><p>    Raz perked up his head, but Milla had turned quickly to her partner. “Maybe later Darling. I think we should-“</p><p>    “Hey.” Raz placed the last bit of crust down on his paper plate, swallowing the half chewed piece he’d been working on quickly so he could talk. “I want to know... what interrogation?”</p><p>    Milla glanced up disapprovingly at Sasha, who held a cold gaze. “I don’t think it’s appropriate. Especially with those memories still fresh. Razputin, Darling, you should-“</p><p>    “I can’t just lay here doing nothing... if this is about my kidnapping, I want to know what happened.” Raz gripped his sheets. “Don’t treat me like a child, Milla... I’m a Psychonaut!”</p><p>    “You’re not-“</p><p>    “He IS.” Sasha definitively stated, keeping his gaze on Milla. “Despite his age. You know he is, Milla. I know it’s particularly hard for you, but you must treat Razputin as your equal. Not your child.” </p><p>    Milla flinched away from the comment, but held her lips tightly and took a deep breath through her nose. “Very well.”  She went into her purse, which lay near the door to the rest of the medical bay. She pulled out an old VHS tape. “From what was left of the perpetrators, we were able to compile a somewhat cohesive timeline of events. We have begun to review the events-“</p><p>    “W-wait.” Raz relaxed his fingers, the sandwich in his stomach flipping over inside of him. “Um... left of the perps?”</p><p>    “Yes, well...” Milla hesitated, tapping her leg anxiously. “They were... when you were rescued, they resisted arrest. And in self defense...” </p><p>    “They’re...” Raz gulped. “You mean they’re dead?”</p><p>    “More or less.” Sasha spoke, coldly once again. “Their minds were still intact.” </p><p>    “Mostly, intact.” Milla corrected, sharing her own glare with Sasha. “After some stitching.” </p><p>    Sasha nodded. “Have you found anything about the men? Were they working with anyone?”</p><p>    Raz turned his head. “Um, they were... there was someone else they called ‘boss’. But I never saw them.” </p><p>    Sasha raised a finger to his chin. “Interesting.”</p><p>    “Yes...” Milla cleared her throat. “Too bad we were not able to directly question them.” </p><p>    “I didn’t leave them brain dead, Milla.” Sasha quickly pointed out. “They should be easily able to answer any questions of the incident.” </p><p>    “And yet they can’t.” Milla snapped back. “In as bad of shape as they were, Sasha, neither of them even remember acting with anyone else.”</p><p>    “Or they CLAIM not to.” Raz added. “They could be covering up for-“</p><p>    “No.” Milla cut the boy off. “In the state they’re in, and at their skill level, they would not be able to withstand our mental interrogation.” She sighed, but continued on, walking to the TV hung in the corner of the room. “Either way, we were able to put together this general timeline. Certain information has been redacted from the memories. They’ve been tagged as containing highly classified information...” </p><p>    As the video began, Raz was very thankful for Milla having been among those who were involved in the interrogation and memory retrieval. The video opened with the viewpoint of Needles, and switched back and forth between his and Al’s vision, giving them two strangely angled shots for the whole duration. They had been at the cafe before Sasha arrived, and watched the two dine, and followed them to the park. Al stayed at the park and Needles had gone into their hotel room and set up a camera before heading into the bar, watching the two check in. From there the POV was just Needles watching the small screen on his hand-held device. The screen on the device went black with the word ‘redacted’ typed across, which saved Raz and Sasha the embarrassment of having to reveal their actions to investigators. </p><p>    They watched the men set up the office... steal a taxi... trick Raz into getting in, and injecting him... Raz felt sick when he watched himself through Al’s eyes as the man hit him, almost choked him with his belt gag. This continued until they were both just standing over a drugged up Raz. The video tape did not go into the mental world, so they just stood over him and watched his body squirm... and eventually it cut to Sasha walking from the shadows. There was a flash, and everything went black. </p><p>    Milla sighed and began unwinding the film. “We have reviewed the film three times. Unfortunately these men... Needles and Al... Do not reveal any details not previously stated in their ransom call.” </p><p>    Raz thought, his finger pressed to his chin much like Sasha’s. “Can you play the part back when they found me in the office?” </p><p>    Milla turned and showed some surprise before nodding and playing back. </p><p>    Sasha raised an eyebrow at Raz. “Did you notice anything.” </p><p>    Raz shrugged. “Something felt off, I don’t know what though.” They started watching where Al and Needles were elsewhere outside the main room. They’d soon be rushing into the room and start kicking down office doors. “So... how did you guys find me?” Raz peeked over to Sasha before turning back to the film. “I mean... I tried to get anyone’s attention... did it work?”</p><p>    Sasha nodded slowly. “I had called HQ as soon as I found you were missing, and they were on the lookout. I had been driving around town searching for any mental trace of you when I thought I’d heard you... It was soft enough I could not get a direction, but soon after HQ received your fax.” Sasha actually chuckled. “To think only a year ago you couldn’t even work a computer.” </p><p>    “Well, I learned~” Raz stuck out his tongue, but Milla hushed them and they all turned their attention back to the screen. </p><p>    Al rammed the door multiple times and then rushed in, seeing the desk, the blinking lights... he hesitated only a moment before kicking at the desk. Raz rolled out, and jumped over him, pushing his hat down, and barely able to see he turned and ran back towards the main room. Milla paused. “I didn’t see any-“</p><p>    “Wait.” Raz leaned forward and squinted. “Just that scene again... one more time?”</p><p>    Milla played it back, but instead of watching the screen, she was watching Razputin. She saw the flash of recognition through his eyes. “What are you seeing, Darling, that we are not?”</p><p>    “Hmm... it’s more what I’m not seeing.”  Raz turned on the bed, letting his legs dangle down. “Where’s the kid in the wheelchair?”</p><p>    Sasha turned curiously. “Kid in the wheelchair?”</p><p>    “Oh... Oh yes!” Milla snapped her fingers as if that had just reminded her. “I remember there was a child... wait, what did we do with him...? We sent him to get evaluated as soon as we got back to HQ.” </p><p>    “Hmm...” Raz pointed at the screen. “But he was in that room with me when we were found. And wait, he was right in front of me when I was being filmed, he should have been in the shot with Al’s point of view. I didn’t see him there either.” </p><p>    Sasha was sorting the information in his mind. “Razputin, you said you were feeling unable to use your mental powers... but you fought off one attacker in your mind before they drugged you.” </p><p>    “Y-yeah?”</p><p>    “So it would be unlikely that you were drugged before then. Yet your mental powers were muffled... held inside.” Sasha began pacing. “And I was unable to find your mental signature... yet as soon as I was in the building, you were as clear as day... and MY mental powers worked without a hitch. As well as with the perpetrators.” Sasha was silent for a moment, but before Raz could add his own thoughts, the man snapped his fingers. “Milla, what did the boy in the wheelchair look like?”</p><p>    “O-oh, the boy, yes. He... uh...” Her expression went blank as she tried to remember. </p><p>    “You forgot you’d sent him to be evaluated at all... and now that you think back, you can’t remember his face.” Sasha looked up to the tv. “And it seems the henchmen couldn’t even see him...” </p><p>    Raz jumped down from his hospital bed, oblivious to the draft on his bare backside. “The kid! He wasn’t another victim, he was the boss!?”</p><p>    The trio of Psychonauts quickly left the medical bay, making their way down only a few halls to the evaluation room where they debriefed agents and checked their mental health. The door was locked, and Milla needed to use her key to get inside. Almost by reaction Sasha tried to block Raz’s vision, but the boy pushed Sasha’s hand out of the way and looked inside. </p><p>    “...Whoa...”  The office had been destroyed, a doctor or a nurse, it was impossible to tell, was crushed halfway through the examination table, his clothes all but fully scorched away. A second body, a nurse, had fallen to the ground and was drooling, their eyes watering and looking straight up at the light. Weirder than anything else, on the floor of the room were two disembodied eyes with no iris or pupil, just white. </p><p>    Sasha placed his hand firmly on Raz’s back. “Milla, call for a full lock down of HQ. Shut down external communications until every section is clear. Make sure no ships or convoys leave this building until this boy is found.” He pushed Raz around and began leading him back to his room. “I will secure the medical wing and join you.” </p><p>    “S-Sasha! Let me get some clothes and I can-“</p><p>    “No. It’s not safe right now, Razputin.” Sasha quickly shoved the boy back into his room. He snapped his fingers at Raz to stop him from talking back. “This is NO time to argue. As soon as this area is secure I will come back.” With that, Sasha closed the door, and he locked it. He locked Raz inside. Away from danger. Alone.</p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~</p><p>    Agents Meyers and Stanchev walked calmly towards the hangar. Meyers was rubbing his protruding forehead, the pain really getting unbearable. His thin and normally combed over hair was now standing almost straight up as if he had been in an explosion. Every time he jumped into someone’s mind his psychic energy always stuck his hair up like he was full of static, and he’d never figured out how to stop it. “I can’t believe we had an intruder IN the Mother Lobe. How did they even get in?”</p><p>    Stanchev, a tall thick-armed woman with two heavy braids of red hair falling to the back of her shoulders just groaned, feeling exhausted and hungry, with a massive headache as well. “Doesn’t matter.” She spoke in a thick Romanian accent, continuing to walk on. “We caught them, we stopped them. Job is done, the how is for investigation.”  She wished she hadn’t gone so hard on the spy. She knew her temper was bad, but she usually stopped herself before burning anyone beyond recognition. </p><p>    The two dragged their feet to the hangar doors, swiping their IDs. The doors hissed open, but a security guard in a large chrome helmet walked out in front and held out his hands. “Hang on, Agents. All flights are currently grounded. Intruder has been found on the grounds, and... Wow, what happened to you guys?” The guard took a weary step back. </p><p>    Meyers sighed and tried to slick his hair back. “We found the intruder. Don’t worry, it’s all taken care of.” </p><p>    “I...I think you should report to Agent Vodello in Medical.” The guard was reaching for his radio very slowly. “We can look into chartering you a flight once you’ve checked in.” </p><p>    Stanchev’s eye widened. The man under the helmet wasn’t familiar to her. He was reaching for a gun on his hip. The intruder! Her focus burned the man’s hand as she rushed forward, grabbing his psychic-protection helmet in both hands and lifting the man off of the ground! She squeezed, feeling the man’s head cave in slowly under the pressure... and then she released him. He crumpled to the floor, dead. The gun was in his hand. She saved their lives. </p><p>    Meyers let out a sigh. “Thank goodness... You have a sharp eye, Stanchev.” </p><p>    “Yes.” The woman came back and rolled the wheelchair she had forward, past the guard, who’s hand gripped a simple radio. She looked over to her partner, the gaping hole where his deep hazel eye used to be seeming somehow normal to her. Her own missing red eye went unnoticed to her. The boy in the wheelchair she pushed was filtered from her memories, his new hazel and red eyes shifting from side to side, as they made their way to a jet.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Don’t Worry About Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The villain escaped, but Sasha isn’t interested in letting Raz help to find him! Well, if Sasha isn’t going to treat him like a real agent, Raz might just have to prove himself again...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>-Sasha, you can’t just lock me up whenever there’s danger around!- Raz sat on his hospital bed, his legs hanging off the end. His back felt cold and exposed because of his hospital robes, but he couldn’t calm down enough to lay down comfortably, and he was tired of just pacing. -I’m not some kid anymore, I’m a-</p><p>	-You’re a Psychonaut.- Sasha’a mental voice was flat and to the point, but Raz could hear the worry and frustration beyond the words. -But until you start acting like one then there is nothing to discuss. You’ve been injured, you need to stay safe and calm until we-</p><p>	-Until you swoop in and save the day without me?- Raz’s fingers pressed more firmly to his temple, his eyes rolling behind closed lids. -I technically have more experience dealing with this threat directly. You should be USING that experience to catch him. You’re the one being impractical, Sasha!-</p><p>	-Razputin, as your friend I understand how you’re feeling right now, but as your superior officer I must say you are stepping far beyond your station.- These words came more forcibly, and gave Sasha some silence from his pupil to continue. -Your direct contact with the threat makes you a liability as much as it does a practicality. If he’s been inside of your mind, then he will know things about you that you may not realize. He’s already killed two of our medical staff, and two agents have gone missing. I will not let your emotions regarding the situation cloud my judgement as they have clearly done to yours.-</p><p>	-Sasha... Don’t.- Raz gripped the edge of the thin green mattress in his free hand, the sheets balling up between his fingers. -Let me h-</p><p>	-Until you are cleared by medical staff, no. That is final.- Sasha took a moment and stopped his own pacing in the halls, taking a deep breath and sighing it out. -I must attend a meeting about this escape with Zanotto. When we’ve concluded the meeting, I will see you in your room. We can discuss this in person.-</p><p>	Raz didn’t even say goodbye, but lowered his hand from his temple. He tried to calm down with a few deep breaths, but he was so frustrated he ended up pounding down on his leg, which made him double over as the still very bruised and delicate spot on his thigh throbbed from the impact. He finally let himself fall back into the hospital bed and sighed heavily, looking up at the plain white ceiling. Eventually, the boy crawled up and got back under the covers to warm his legs a bit. He looked over to the calendar on the wall, realizing it was already Wednesday. He was three days plus the weekend into his first vacation, and so far he’s only had one day he got to spend with Sasha. He silently hoped he would be able to recoup the lost days as extra paid vacation days. </p><p>	Sasha didn’t visit after his meeting. Milla came in to let him know that Sasha was being sent right away to organize a search force for apprehending the intruder, and that he would come back when he was satisfied with the efforts. Raz told her he understood and that it wasn’t a big deal, but she saw through his poor efforts at hiding his true feelings. He was obviously hurt by Sasha’s decisions, and as much as she tried to convince the boy it was all with his own best interests in mind, she could not change his opinion. He asked plainly when he would be allowed to leave the medical wing and just be in his own room. After some very quick scans and a few signed papers, he was given his clothes and sent off. </p><p>	Raz found it difficult to get in touch with Sasha, even though they were both finally both at HQ. It had been two days and they were no closer to finding the escapee. Every time Raz saw Sasha walking through the halls the man looked frustrated, deep in thought, and very busy, walking quickly from room to room as he updated other agents on their efforts. Feeling ignored, Raz began to avoid Sasha as well. He knew deep down that it was childish, but he wanted Sasha to feel bad once he realized how the man had been treating him. HIM. They were supposed to have something special together. </p><p>	In an effort to think about anything else, Raz sought out Coach Oleander. Even though he was technically on vacation, doing some brain training would at the very least keep him from dying of boredom waiting in his room for Sasha to notice him. Oleander was quick to allow Raz into his mind for training, complimenting his diligence for training hard and keeping his mind and body strong despite him being off duty. Raz just went with it and asked to be given more advanced courses to give him a really good workout. He fought mentally manifested tanks, war planes, and whole platoons of soldiers in grey uniforms with glowing red eyes, and in his attempts to give himself a grueling challenge Raz ran head fist into the danger instead of using his smarts to outmaneuver the enemies. He was thrown a time or two out of the coach’s mind, but was quick to recover and dove back in again and again, ignoring Oleander’s advice for strategy until he was able to punch through the waves of enemies with brute mental force. In the end it was a good workout, Raz had built up a physical and psychological sweat, but as soon as he was out of the showers and walking back to his room he saw Sasha looking over a clipboard brought to him by another agent, shaking his head and crumbling up page by page of the report, and the feelings of neglect and distrust came flooding back. </p><p>	Time for desperate measures. Raz hated asking for advice when he could avoid it. It was a dilemma because he loved learning, especially from his heroes in the Psychonauts, but he had a very strong stubborn streak that he always had to fight off before he could go out of his way to ask. In this case, it was the only option he felt he had left. Raz reached out shortly after breakfast of the third day after the intruder shook HQ’s security to the very foundation. It explained why it took so much longer to reach out via the collective consciousness without getting caught, but with Raz’s naturally ironclad defensive mind and his teacher’s unparalleled wit and experience, they were finally able to meet brain to brain once again. </p><p>	“Yello’, Razputin. Or I should be sayin’ AGENT Razputin, heh!” Cruller slowly turned, shuffling his feet a bit at a time away from the dozens of floating computer screens that made up his mind space, each screen on the lookout for danger. At the minute, Raz guessed that at least a few were looking for the intruder as well. The old man smiled from behind his unkempt mustache. “Been a long time since ya deemed it convenient for you to reach out for a visit. Kids these days, sheesh... ain’t learned to respect yer elders.” </p><p>	“Oh, s-sorry Agent Cruller, sir. I’ve been really busy training.” Raz did feel a heavy twinge of guilt for not keeping up as often with the first man to really trust his psychic skills and push him into his path of becoming the Psychonaut he was today. </p><p>	“Pshaw, I’m just pullin’ yer chain. I’ve been keepin’ my eye on ya as much as I could from here.” Cruller took just a moment of silence, directing his rare full attention in Raz’s direction. “Are you okay? After what happened...”</p><p>	Raz quickly raised his hands defensively. “Oh, yeah yeah! Don’t worry, I’m fine. Really... it was just...” </p><p>	“It wasn’t ‘just’, Razputen.” Cruller looked down at the boy very seriously. “What you experienced would have broken most. Not just psychically. The emotional trauma of such an experience-“</p><p>	“I’m... Look.” Raz shook his head and tried to bring things back around. “Sorry, I didn’t come here to talk about that. I’m fine. What happened wasn’t real, I’ve sorted out the memories and put them away to use instead of hurt. They’re ammo at this point, nothing more.” </p><p>	“Hmm. Maybe so.” Cruller nodded and slowly took a seat, the chair appearing as if from nothing behind him. “Maybe you’re even stronger than we thought possible. Or maybe you’re holding onto the pain and refusing to accept it and let it release from within you. Who knows, I ain’t you, nobody is except you.”  Cruller turned to face his monitors once again, allowing himself to glance over his screens, letting his focus shift more normally. “Now, if that ain’t what you came here for, I’m mighty curious as to what you need with lil ol’ me.” </p><p>	Raz hesitated only as he considered Cruller’s words, but quickly came back to his senses. “Oh, right... well...” He did his best to to explain his situation. How he felt he had the duty and the downright RIGHT to be on this assignment looking for the intruder with everyone else. He explained how Sasha had sidelined him and seemed to be ignoring him despite everything. He explained without going into ANY kind of detail that he was so happy to be have been able to spend some quality time with Sasha at the start of his vacation, but how he’s now spending his free time at work and not even able TO work due to Sasha worrying he’s not good enough to get it done without getting hurt. </p><p>	Cruller listened the whole way through without interruption, gently nodding to show he was still listening whenever there were pauses. His mustache swished from side to side as his expression changed in thought. Finally, he turned back in his seat to face Raz again. “Hmm... You sound more frustrated than an Amish Electrician.”</p><p>	“Wha-?”</p><p>	“Never mind. Point is, I understand why you’d be upset with Sasha at a time like this. Boy’s like a dog with a bone once he sinks his teeth into an assignment. He can follow orders, but he don’t listen one iota when it comes to taking advice. You both got heads like rocks, kickin’ like a stubborn mule...”</p><p>	Raz felt his cheeks puff out in frustration. “I’m not THAT stubborn.” </p><p>	“Trust me, you is.” </p><p>	“Am NOT!” </p><p>	Cruller gestured as if he was proving his point, but let it drop. “The one thing I’m actually disappointed in, however, is that Sasha hasn’t considered at least consulting you about your experience with this escaped intruder. Even if he wanted to keep you here and safe, he could at least use your experience to shine a light on the case.” </p><p>	“I don’t WANT to just be consoltated. I want to HELP! I’m a Psychonaut, I can be OUT there finding this guy!” Raz stomped his foot and began to pace. Why is everyone treating him like he’s do delicate!?</p><p>	“Hmm, I can at least see why Sasha doesn’t want to involve you. It’s just all or nothin’ with you kids. Can never just be good enough.” Cruller rolled his eyes. “Well, ain’t no use in tryin’ I guess. Not like you can do anything with your level of clearance anyways.” </p><p>	Raz huffed, and crossed his arms. After a moment, however, he raised his eyebrow. “Wait, well... with my clearance I’m still able to research the main database. And I have access to the Mother Lobe’s monitoring hub...” </p><p>	Cruller turned away to hide his smug grin. “Oh, but Sasha Nein would have pulled any clearance surely.” </p><p>	“Well he... he doesn’t have that authority, technically. He just told me to stay out of the way. But I technically still have my full access...” Raz began pacing more, but this time his mind was racing to find new options, his finger finding its way to his chin. Cruller was amazed with how different Raz and Sasha could be while still having so many similar habits. Raz snapped his fingers. “I got it! I could use what I know about this kid and search the databases and then use the monitoring hub to look for high psychic presences outside of the Mother Lobe and-“</p><p>	“You’re sounding just like a Psychonaut, but there’s one big problem.” Cruller spun in his seat. “We already got over a dozen more experienced Psychonauts, including Sasha Nein, all doing exactly that. What makes you think you’ll do any better than them?” Cruller gave the boy a moment to think, and watched his shoulders sag. Cruller cleared his throat. “Razputin, listen. You’re not the best Psychonaut out there. Give your ego a break and accept that. There are plenty of agents with big heads on their shoulders who know all of the plans, all of the strategies, all of the protocols... we have PLENTY of good agents out there.” Cruller then leaned forward, reaching out and placing an old boney hand on the boy’s shoulder. “But we only got one Razputin.” </p><p>	Raz looked up, a look of confusion on his face. “Sir?”</p><p>	“Stop thinking like the rest of ‘em. That obviously ain’t workin’. You have to think like you. Like an Aquato. Like a Razputin. You got something in ya that none of them can ever have, and that’s YOUR brain.” He poked Raz’s forehead and leaned back. “If I could think of all the solutions out there, I wouldn’t need to employ Milla or Sasha or anyone else to solve my problems. There are always different ways to see things, and approach problems... figure it out.”  Cruller finally turned back to his monitors once more. “Now git goin’, kid. I’ve been trying to search for this kid MY way, and it hasn’t done dang diddly squat! I wont find anything with you yappin’ at me all day.” </p><p>	“Yes sir!” Raz gave a salute and quickly ran back to the door to make his way into the collective conscious and back to his own mind. He had planning to do! </p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~</p><p>	“So, uh...” Coach Oleander scratched under his helmet as he looked up at the full wall screen of the Mother Lobe monitoring station, waves of light pinging from the center, showing small blips and a few icons across the superimposed map of the world. He went to stroking his chin and squinted his eyes at the screen, and then turned back to Raz. “You lost me.” </p><p>	Raz rolled his eyes and sat back down at the computer, typing in some adjustments before twisting at some of the knobs on the console. “Well look, you said that Sasha and the other agents were looking for large psychic forces, and then cross referencing their location with possible Psychonaut jet sightings or descriptions matching what Milla and I remember the kid looked like, right?” Raz waited for the man show his understanding before going on. “Well, I’m going to do the opposite!” </p><p>	“Hmmm...” Oleander tried to look closer at the map, as if that was going to show him the answers he was looking for. The man was far from dumb, he was a powerful psychic with a mind made for chaos and tactic in such balance that it was honestly amazing. There was a reason he was kept around even after his minor breakdown years ago when he tried to take over Whispering Rock Summer Camp and steal the brains of all of the students to arm an army of psychic tanks. “So you’re... NOT going to be looking for a powerful psychic? The powerful psychic we KNOW was here only a few days ago. You’re not going to look for him. That’s your plan?”</p><p>	“Well... no. Kinda? But no. Look.” Raz turned in his chair and gestured with both hands. “Sasha said he looked for me when I was kidnapped, right? But he didn’t sense any psychic presence. But we know not only was I there, but two goons and this kid, all with psychic abilities. Why couldn’t he sense us?”</p><p>	“Psycho-isolation chamber?” Oleander offered. </p><p>	“But I was able to push a message through. Besides, the goons were able to use their psychic powers, so their powers weren’t being isolated.” </p><p>	“Hmm... Psirilium?”</p><p>	“I would have had side effects, and Sasha would have experienced them too as soon as he came in to the rescue. But as soon as he was within range he was able to use his own mental powers, so whatever must have been keeping him from finding me must have gone away.” </p><p>	“Gone away?” Oleander was scratching under his helmet once again. “So a mental field?”</p><p>	“Exactly!” Raz gave a spin in his seat. “So if we’re looking for big ol’ psychic power sources, but he’s hiding himself behind a psychic nullification field, then what are we going to find?”</p><p>	“A whole lot of nothing.” Oleander rested his hand on his hips and sighed. “But then even if we looked for negative space... most of the PLANET is negative space for psychic energy!” </p><p>	“Well, that’s where MY plan comes in. I just need...” Raz typed in one more adjustment to the machine, which came up with a password request. “Your permission.” </p><p>	Oleander walked over to type in his code, but hesitated. “You tell me what you’re doing first...” </p><p>	“Just increasing the power of the psychic search parameters to blatantly irresponsible levels.” </p><p>	“Fair.” Oleander typed in his code, and hit enter, opening further magnification in Raz’s hands. </p><p>	Raz began slowly increasing power. “Milla told me before that EVERYONE has a bit of psychic energy, but for most people it’s like a grain of sand. Unnoticed and useless for anything practical. Others have a bit more, enough to give them bad juju feelings and deja vu, but only few are born with enough psychic energy to show up on the scanners normally, and those are the ones you guys invite to camp to see if they’re able to be trained into psychonauts.” </p><p>	“Everything you just said is accurate.” Oleander confirmed. </p><p>	“So, if we make the map so sensitive to psychic energy that even bits of grains of sand show up...” He turned the machine up until most every populated area in the world was almost blindingly bright. He pulled up his goggles, and Oleander slipped on some sunglasses. “Then we dont need to look for someone WITH psychic energy...” </p><p>	“But somewhere there’s a hole.”  Oleander’s eyes scanned the map, and then his feet left the ground as he levitated up and pointed to a spot in an area surprisingly close by where there was not only a spot of missing energy, but anything that began to approach seemed to snuff out and come back once out of the field of range. </p><p>	“Bingo!” Raz turned the machine back down so that he could see just where that was on the map. </p><p>	“That was brilliant, Razputin!” Coach Oleander landed back on the ground, sniffling and wiping a tear from under his eye. “You’ve grown into a mighty fine tactician, soldier...” </p><p>	“Just doing exactly what a Psychonaut wouldn’t, due to reckless behavior.” Raz grinned and stood. “Okay, now all we have to do is find a transport back to the city and make our way to this blank spot on the map and look for our missing agents. Where we find them, the kid will be close by. Then we-“</p><p>	“Ahem.” Sasha stood in the doorway of the room, a lower level agent behind him on either side. He looked from Raz to Oleander and back. “Care to explain?”</p><p>	Raz spun around to face Sasha, but bit his tongue and didn’t say anything. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to stop the Coach from explaining quite proudly, “Young Razputin just flipped your fancy search engine on its head to find your culprit, Agent Nein.” He reached out and grabbed Raz by the shoulder and pulled the boy to his side. “He’s a knock off the old block, I tell ya! You should have recruited him to assist with this search from the start!” </p><p>	Raz narrowed his eyes. how did Sasha know to come in just now? This room wasn’t booked for use. “Have you been... following me?”</p><p>	“Hmm.” Sasha didn’t look amused, but stepped inside. He nodded to the agents behind him, who both went to the console and began re-adjusting to see the screen back to ultra sensitivity as Raz had it before. He ignored Raz’s inquiry. “A very clever idea to be sure. However, I had clear orders for you to distance yourself from this assignment, Razputin.” </p><p>	Raz felt his jaw tighten, partly from the disappointed tone in Sasha’s voice, but more from the anger at being brushed aside again. “You don’t have the authority to make that call, sir.” The word ‘sir’ seemed to be dripping with acidic disdain, which seemed to catch Sasha off guard. Raz continued. “You are my superior officer, but I have not been under your direct charge since I left your instruction. I have my orders given from Psychonaut Officer Willis, who receives HIS orders from Coach Oleander, who gets HIS directions directly from Director Zanotto. If you want to bar me from this mission, you need to follow the chain of command.” </p><p>	“Very well.” Sasha very directly stated. “And until then I will have you detained in your quarters to await further orders from your direct superiors.”  Sasha’s voice didn’t come off as angry, but Raz could feel between the wavelengths. The man was upset that Raz would disregard him due to anything as petty as direct subordination. “I will come as soon as we’re done here, and we can speak privately.”</p><p>	“No.” </p><p>	Sasha had begun to turn to the screen when Raz’s answer made him snap his head back. “Excuse me?”</p><p>	Raz had caught himself in an awkward position. His hands had formed fists at his sides, his whole body seeming tensed and almost shaking. The back of his throat was sore and his jaw felt like it was about to cramp, but he took a deep and determined breath in through his nose, quickly coming up with a plan. “I said ‘no’. I’m not being detained, you wont be seeing me in my room to talk privately. If you wanted to talk, you’ve had days to do that. I’m going home.” </p><p>	“Home?” Sasha raised an eyebrow. “You can’t-“</p><p>	“I’m still on vacation time. Alert level was lowered yesterday, so I don’t have to stay here. You do not have authority to give me direct orders when I’m off duty.” Raz started to march out of the room, purposefully giving a wide birth around Sasha as he saw the man raising his hand to touch him. “I’m going to schedule a bus to take me home to my parents, and I will stay there until I’m called back in for duty.”</p><p>	“Razpu-“</p><p>	Raz cut Sasha off very purposefully. “And don’t have your interns follow me, SIR. If you don’t trust me, you can say it to my face yourself.” Raz picked up the pace and turned down the hall, wanting to be out of sight before his anger turned into feelings of fear and abandonment. He didn’t want Sasha to have a chance to stop him, and he didn’t trust himself to not be convinced to stay, so he grabbed some things  from his room and filled his backpack, and then went straight to the hangars to find transport to take him home. </p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~</p><p>	“You know, I can’t believe Sasha Nein put YOU in charge of keeping an eye on me.” Raz sat back in his bus seat. The jet had dropped him off near a bus station that would take him through the city to the train station where he’d board to follow his family’s circus route. Now he just let his legs kick back and forth as he talked out loud to... someone. Other people on the bus glanced in his direction before getting back to actively ignoring him. Raz, however, didn’t stop. “I mean he could just trust me, you know, but NO. But I would have guessed if he wanted to make sure I got home safe he would have at least put someone with a bit more experience on, you know? He must have really been scraping the bottom of the barrel with the whole search taking up so many resources and all.” </p><p>	Raz couldn’t prove to himself he’d been followed, but there was an itch in the back of his mind, and he was deeply suspicious. If Sasha was going to have him followed around at HQ, there’s no way he was going to let Raz leave without supervision. He glanced out the window and noticed he was getting near the park where he and Sasha had kissed only a few days ago. He sighed and decided to put his plan into action. Closing his eyes, Raz felt his mental energy reach out, small invisible disembodied hands reaching out to grab a hold of the windows. As the bus came to a lurching hissing stop at a red light, he pulled down hard, a dozen windows slamming open. This gave everyone on the bus a start, but also distracted them from Raz, who put on his goggles, and as the rims of them started to glow, the rest of his body shifted into nothingness. Now, he could just hop out of the bus and begin his search, but instead Raz used another psychic hand to flip at someone’s newspaper and shove the man’s hat off of his head, making the man stand and curse in surprise. It took only a few seconds for one of the other bus patrons to get up and rush for the window, cursing before jumping out, his fingers pressed to his temple. </p><p>	“Bye bye Agent~” Raz whispered to himself and grinned as the bus began to pull away again, leaving the shadow behind to look in vain for his escaped assignment. “And good riddance.” Raz raised his goggles back to his head, returning to a visible spectrum and waited a few more stops before calmly exiting the bus, waving down a taxi to take him the rest of the way to his true destination, the building where he had been held hostage. From the ground Raz could clearly see the hole in the building where Sasha had apparently blew up a path for them to escape. He’d only read a bit of what happened during his rescue in the post op reports, which he was able to access in the archives per his clearance. Thankfully those reports included the exact location the extraction took place. </p><p>	Raz couldn’t levitate properly, but with a nice high bounce on his levitation ball he was able to skip up a few floors of the building before switching to his impressive climbing skills to make his way up to the 10th floor. Inside was... well, it was not what Raz had expected. The room was still very barren with all of the furniture moved to one side, but large portions of the wall had been punched through and the doors were heavily singed, and there were two very darkly colored craters, one on either side of the office, both of them with a chalk mark in the approximate shape of a body drawn in them. One of those drawings was missing the head, which was drawn a few feet away. </p><p>	Raz gulped, but crawled through the hole under a web of caution tape into the room. This was the one place he was sure the kid who infiltrated the Mother Lobe had been, so he could only hope that he left something behind. Something he could use to give him an edge before diving into his search. Sasha and the rest of the psychonauts will take their time tracking him before coming up with a long winded plan of attack, going through miles of red tape... but RAZ would just go in and find him. No sense going in with a plan all set and read if you’re probably going to have to change it up anyways since you don’t know what the enemy is capable of, right? Right. </p><p>	Raz searched under the desks and peeked through the holes that lead into the offices. He finally stopped and peered into the furthest office where he had sent the fax off to HQ. Bingo... crawling in through the wreckage that was the doorway, Raz stood up a banged up wheelchair. It was the chair the kid had been rolled around with the whole time. The kid would have had a lot of time sitting in this chair, and thus there should be a strong connection. Not wanting to waste any time, Raz steadied the chair and sat down himself. He adjusted his goggles back over his eyes, and then leaned back. He felt around with his mind, finding a strong connection to the seat, and he followed it. He felt his mind pulling itself along the connection, and though he couldn’t tell what direction exactly he was going, he felt himself following along at speed until he hit something. The psychic field. Raz held onto that connection, knowing he’d punched through that field before and he could do it again. He took a deep breath before pushing his mind harder and harder against that anti psychic field. It felt like pushing against a wall of firm gelatin, giving and jiggling just enough to feel awkward and not able to get a good grip against it, but Raz just kept stubbornly pushing, gritting his teeth as a bead of sweat dripped down off of his nose. After a few moments, he felt something slip, and his mental self slipped in through the field, following the path he’d set, and he felt his eyes adjust to the clairvoyance. </p><p>	Almost instantly Raz felt like he was going to throw up. His eyes opened in two opposing and independently moving points of view. It was jarring and confusing to put it mildly, but he held onto the connection. He needed to figure this out, and hopefully keep his lunch down while he did it. One of the visions was coming from what looked like a bathroom, which was always an awkward spot to peep in on, but at least it looked like they were washing their hands, so the deed had already been done. The other point of view was looking down at a bowl of soup, and kept shifting up to look up as if looking for a waiter in what looked like a clean little diner. As that vision moved back and forth from the soup to the restaurant, Raz could make out that in front of the table was resting a small empty wheelchair with the Psychonauts logo. Strange. If he were looking through the kid’s eyes now, then why wasn’t he in the chair? And why was he seeing things in double?</p><p>	The view in the bathroom turned up, and Raz was taken aback when he was looking at the reflection of Agent Meyers in the mirror, the psychic-screening expert that had gone missing the day the boy escaped. And he had a medical bandage over one side of his face. As he exited the bathroom, Raz’s second vision looked up and saw him approaching the table. They locked eyes, and through Meyer’s vision Raz could see that his other vision was coming from a large red haired woman. Wait, that was Agent Stanchev, a Pyrokinesis specialist, she went missing as well. Both of the agents were together, and... she was wearing an eyepatch. Huh...  Both eyes turned to their food as they began to eat in silence, but they kept glancing over the Wheelchair that sat empty in front of them. It was so strange... </p><p>	“Ooooh, shiiiit.” Raz felt himself bringing his finger up to his chin in thought as he put the pieces together. “He’s making himself invisible in the chair... and he’s taken two agent’s eyes the same way he did with Al and Needles so he can stay connected to them with clairvoyance. So when I was being tortured... it was HIM that was manipulating Al and Needles? But wait, then why were Needles and Al acting so different if they were being controlled by the same person, that doesn’t make any sense...” Raz continued to think as one of the agents got up and headed for the counter. </p><p>	Raz did his best to just focus on one point of view at a time to try to pull any information from the surroundings as he could. It seemed Myers was looking either to order something or maybe to pay, but weirdly as he looked around Raz started to notice how empty the diner was. In fact, it wasn’t just lacking people. No other silverware set ups were on the tables. The signs were filled with shapes and colors and pictures of food, but there was no writing. As Meyers glanced off to the side, Raz also noticed even the parking lot outside was empty. And he couldn’t make out any buildings beyond the lot. This whole place was feeling off. </p><p>	Agent Meyers picked something up from the counter and came back to the table. The food and all had been cleared, though Raz hadn’t seen anyone clear it. Meyers placed what at first looked like a menu onto the table, but when he opened it up it was a large map of a building. </p><p>	“Okay, assuming Sasha Nein goes through the proper channels, and knowing him he definitely will, we should be seeing from him and the other defectors in the next few days.” Meyers swiped his hands over the map to flatten it. “I can’t believe he went rouge... after everything we’d been through together.” </p><p>	“You were there.” Agent Stanchev glanced up at her partner, and through Meyer’s vision Raz could see she looked troubled but angry. “He...” Both agents had a flash that caught Raz off guard, images of Sasha mind blasting Al and Needles with no remorse. Their vision came back, and Stanchev was gritting her teeth. “He killed our field agents like they were nothing...No hesitation.” </p><p>	“At least we were able to flush out the traitor. Now...” Meyers began pointing around the picture of the building. “We’ve set up a number of traps around the perimeter. The agents will not be able to see using their psi abilities once they’re within 20 feet of the building, so we’ll whittle their numbers before they even come in.” </p><p>	“We lead them into the choke.” Stanchev used her strong meaty finger to point at a small hallway on the paper. “Where I will be able to burn them en mass. One big wave, they will go up like kindling.” </p><p>	“Exactly. Sasha will be the last to approach, he’s too smart to run in with minimal intel. We may have to hunt him down.” </p><p>	“But he will be too proud to run. I’ll make chase...” </p><p>	“And I‘ll go around to where they’ll park their jet.” Meyers motioned over to the edge of the map. “Knowing their intel, we know just where they will be. And we still have access to control the jet ourselves. I’ll take out the pilot and sit in wait. If you’re not able to hold him, or if he tries to run, he’ll be coming right into a trap.” </p><p>	“Kill kill, win win.” Stanchev nodded. “Go over it again.” </p><p>	Raz bit his lip as he listened and watched as his fellow Psychonauts were blatantly planning a trap to murder Sasha! And calling him a traitor!? Needles and Al were fugitives, according to their records, and had no affiliation with the Psychonauts. They weren’t field agents. What were these guys thinking!? </p><p>	Raz took a deep breath and continued to look for clues. He started scanning the map they were looking at. If that was the building they were defending, maybe he could work out where it was... One side of the map showed a body of water and a dock... it looked big, like a warehouse... Raz quickly scanned the document, until he noticed in the very corner was an address. Duh! He memorized the number and the street, and finally released the clairvoyance. </p><p>	Raz leaned over in the wheelchair and took some deep breaths. He felt so dizzy after trying to focus through two sets of eyes. How strange that through this kid’s connection from HIS chair, he was seeing through the eyes of Agents Meyers and Stanchev. Was this kid really able to take control of both of their minds AND stay invisible? That didn’t explain why they were acting independently as opposed to acting through the kid’s orders... And why was that diner so barren? It was as if it had been mentally constructed in a hurry to make them think they were... </p><p>	“Wait a minute. Holy shit, there weren’t in the diner at all!” Raz jumped up from the chair and paced in the small destroyed office. “Yeah...yeah! And they’re not being mind controlled either! This kid isn’t invisible at all... he’s not some mind juggling pro, he’s a one trick pony!” Having figured out this kid’s angle, Raz ran from the office to begin his climb down to the street. If they were really setting this trap, he needed to make sure he was able to stop this guy BEFORE Sasha brought in a team to do it first. </p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~ </p><p>	The warehouse was not far from the office where Raz had been held. With his acrobatic skills, Raz was able to climb into the building through the air ducts, and found himself crouched on the catwalks. He knew to keep an eye out for traps, and so far he was lucky enough not to have set any off. He glanced down and saw them all. </p><p>	Agent Myers and Stanchev were sitting in the middle of the room moving their hands around as if they were eating, but there was nothing in front of them. This confirmed Raz’s theory. The kid in the wheelchair hadn’t taken over their minds, he was just adjusting their sensory input. Making them see, hear, and feel things that weren’t there, and they were acting of their own accord. He was just manipulating them, not controlling them. They didn’t see him not because he was invisible, but he just erased himself from their vision. They were given false memories of Sasha, making them believe he truly was a traitor, and they would fight with the full strength of a Psychonaut when hey saw him... heck, the kid could probably make anyone look like Sasha to make them attack... it was a very dangerous situation. </p><p>	Raz spotted the kid in the wheelchair, his head nodding as if he were trying to stay awake, probably focused on keeping the illusions up as well as the psychic field around the building that kept him from being found, but what ended up leading Raz right to them. He thought that if he could just bring down the kid, the illusions would end and he’d be able to explain everything to Agents Meyers and Stanchev, but if he brought attention to himself too soon, the kid could just turn HIM into the enemy, and the agents wouldn’t hear any warning he could possibly give. So, Raz slowly and quietly made his way down to the ground floor, keeping his mind still as he heel-toed across the empty warehouse floor right to the Wheelchair. The kid was nodding, his eyes unfocused and half closed, shifting this way and that individually. </p><p>	Raz pulled from his pocket the small red and blue portal door, and began to slowly reach forward towards the kid’s head when those eyes turned to him. One red eye and one ice blue, both shaking and wide. Raz could hear the psychonauts behind him shift and quickly stand, and he knew they could see him... but in a desperate move, Raz pressed the portal to the kid’s forehead. If the kid’s mind was busy, maybe his illusions would stop as well... quickly adjusting his goggles, Raz dove his subconscious mind towards the door, his body slumping into the chair as he fell into darkness.</p><p>~ ~ ~ ~ ~</p><p>	“Huh... Weird.” Raz stood up in the mental world of this crazy eye stealing psychic kid, and it was quite big, and quite empty. The black and white tile floor spanned on further than Raz could make out. No buildings, no furniture, no people... just vastness. He tried to think of how he could most effectively explore this kind of area, and the best idea he had was simply to start walking. Eventually you’ll run into something, or you’ll just have to break out the smelling salts. After only three steps, however, Raz banged his shin on something hard, sharp, and invisible, making him hop up onto his other foot, gripping his sore shin and bouncing back just to feel something bang into the back of his knee, making him tumble over, something pulling on top of him heavily. </p><p>	Raz groaned but didn’t move for a while. He let himself try to wrap his head around it all. So he wasn’t in an empty world... he was in an invisible world. Feeling the object on top of him with his eyes closed he was able to make it out as a heavy wooden chair. He finally shoved the chair off and sat up, rubbing his shin before standing up and very slowly walking forward, dragging his feet and holding his hands out in front of him. A few feet forward and he found what felt like a coffee table in front of him. That must have been what he had kicked earlier. He felt along the top of the table until his fingers bumped something, and then he heard something shatter. </p><p>	“Dammit...” </p><p>	“Oh now what!?” A high pitched voice came from... somewhere. Raz started to panic, looking around and listening, trying to figure out if there were invisible PEOPLE here too! He looked around and tried to listen, and was able to hear the sound of wooden shoes approaching. Very strangely, as if walking from behind an invisible wall, a person actually appeared. They were strange looking to say the least. It was a woman around five and a half feet tall in a very plain dress with long black hair. Her face was like that of a doll, with solid smooth skin forming a very stiff expression, and weirder still she had one large eye in the middle of her face. She lifted her arms from the elbows before they fell to her hips in an exaggerated motion. “And just who are YOU? Making a mess in my living room...” </p><p>	“Uh... sorry, I just didn’t see-“</p><p>	“Well why don’t you watch where you’re going? I swear children do not have any manners these days.” The woman rose up as if she were flying, floating closer to Raz before touching down. As this closer look, Raz could see thin strings hanging from her joints. “Well, are you going to clean up your mess?” She lifted her hand and jabbed Raz in the side with a sharp wooden finger. </p><p>	“Ow! I’ll, ow, quit it!” Raz batted the finger away. “I can’t see any mess. I’m not going to pick up broken glass I can’t see.” </p><p>	“You can’t SEE? There’s glass all over the floor, how could you MISS it? You useless child.” She began to reach out and push Raz towards where he knew there was broken glass along the floor. </p><p>	“N-no! Ha...haha, no, I was kidding, of course I can... see it.” Raz looked from the empty spot in front of him over to the puppet woman, and back. He thought quickly, turning back to the woman and glancing around her. Tucked in the pockets of her dress looked like to be a small rag. “Um... Oh, can I borrow your rag, ma’am? I dont want to cut my hand.”</p><p>	The woman rolled her head around her neck, which Raz guessed was her way of rolling her eyes... or... eye... and then grabbed the rag out of her pocket at handed it over. Raz took it and thanked her before pressing his fingers to his temple and focusing on the item. When he opened his inner eyes, looking through the woman’s view, he was standing in a small living room decorated it seemed by a very old woman. Everything was colored in powdery pastels and draped in lacy knitted doilies. Small glass statues and vases and teacups were on every surface, the whole place looked like a terrifying maze of potential destruction. </p><p>	“Wow... nice place?” Raz leaned over and started to pick up piece of the small glass vase he’d apparently knocked off of the coffee table, and then the woman finally left, her wooden feet knocking on the floor as she was bobbled from side to side in a motion that was supposed to look like she was walking. As her view point shifted, so did Raz’s, and he was quick to follow, using her eyes as his own as they made their way out of the room. As she left, Raz actually found himself out in a small garden filled with thorny bushes and sharp iron dividers that he could easily step on, as well as upturned rakes and nails laying in the grass... damn, this place was terrifying to walk in, and just imagining not being able to see through this woman’s eyes... he continued to follow closely, well practiced in walking a few paces behind where he can see, until he started to see more strings dangling around him, other people showing up, each of them with only one eye, each one strung up and dangling as they moved about the streets. Raz finally stopped and thought a moment. “Oh my goodness!” He shouted, everyone turning his way. Raz finally saw himself through the woman’s eye, and saw himself as a small puppet with flopping arms and a wrap around his head over his eyes, or eye...  he couldn’t tell if he had one or two in her view... and he was wearing a big red sign that simply said ‘danger’. </p><p>	“What IS it? Have you cleaned up your mess? You didn’t stomp through my garden and kill my roses again did you!?” The woman was turning away, but Raz needed her attention. </p><p>	“No! Wait! Look at THAT!” Raz pointed up, hoping to get her to look. Thankfully the puppets seemed to be as dim as they were mean. She looked up, and through her eyes Raz could see the strings all rose up into the sky, where he could just make out giant hands holding a pair of large strung paddles. The puppeteer... and THAT is where he needed to go. </p><p>	Raz released his clairvoyance, finding himself back in the middle of an empty space, only seeing a few of the puppet people dangling around looking skywards now. He jumped up and grabbed a handful of strings from above the yelling woman, and wrapping them together into a bunch, and he began to climb, ignoring the shouting from below. </p><p>	Mental world Raz had a lot of stamina, and he climbed and climbed up the strings until he found himself just above the clouds, which he could feel but not see. As he cleared them, his vision from above seemed to clear, and he saw the giant hands maneuvering the puppets. Looking down, he could now see the clouds, and even far below he could see the entire village that was invisible to him before. The cloud seemed to be flat on top, like a platform, and after an experimental tap, he hopped off of the string and stood on the cloud, looking down the giant arm to find out who was in control of this strange world. </p><p>	“You, huh? Figures.” The one in control was the boy, his pale yellow hair brushed neatly, unlike the moppy hay-like head in the real world. He also had two eyes on his face, but they were milky white, and a third eye opened on his forehead, as black as night. It was a very strange look, but the boy seemed to not notice him. “Hey! You know, you should probably clean up your little play place down there... it’s really dangerous!” </p><p>	Nothing. The giant boy controlling the world of puppets below was oblivious to Raz’s calls. Raz sighed and tapped his chin. There had to be something he could do to either get attention, or to pull some sort of information from this mental world. A sound of sniffing and shuffling caught Raz’s attention, and when he turned he spotted a fat shuffling safe with dog ears with its nose to the ground. A mental safe... perfect place to look for information! And a nice place to hide it, way up in the clouds away from all the little people down below. Raz dashed forward and before the safe could even move to run, he slammed a heavy orange psychic fist down on its head! The safe collapsed, its face opening up with a whimpered sigh and a rolled out tongue, and inside was a small picture reel. </p><p>	“Excellent. Now let’s see.” Raz looked through the pictures, and at first he was very confused. The first few pictures were all blank, which he hadn’t seen before. Then he saw a picture of a baby with milky white eyes. Next a toddler walking into a display shelf, dropping a number of nicknacks that all seemed to come crashing down. Then a woman, Raz guessed it was the boy’s mother, being handed a letter with the Psychonauts emblem by Sasha Nein. Then two shadowy guys taking the boy... the shadowy men controlling him... and the final picture, the boy standing over the two men, strings attached to his fingers as he manipulates THEM. </p><p>	“Wow...Kinda messed up.” Raz went back and forth with the pictures on the disk. “So he’s met Sasha before... but then was kidnapped... Does he maybe blame Sasha for it? Is that why he’s targeting him?”  He went back further and saw the baby with white eyes, and the blank pictures before. Born blind... so these other memories were all through someone else’s eyes. That explains the mental world being invisible except for the puppets... this kid has been using clairvoyance his whole life to see anything, hasn’t he? </p><p>	Raz looked back at the large puppet master version of the boy inside of his mental world. The third eye on his forehead was shifting, staring down at the people below as he made them go on their lives. It must be a direct representation of his clairvoyance. He uses that as a sort of all seeing eye... so if he can get that eye closed, then real world kid would shut down his clairvoyance. Without being able to see directly through the eyes of his victims, he wont be able to manipulate what they’re seeing, because he can’t even see himself to know what to manipulate. </p><p>	So, massively powerful and complicated boy villain, and all ya gotta do is poke his eye. This was going to be weirdly easy. </p><p>	It was not easy. </p><p>	Raz tried to just psi-slam the giant third eye, but as soon as he was close enough, he was seen. Then it was flying puppet people, shattering glass, invisible barriers... it took a lot of trial and error to finally get a clear shot at the all seeing third eye, and as soon as he was able to hit it directly with a psi-blast, everything had gone dark. A screeching scream make his skull shake, and he was finally forced to use his smelling salts to pull himself back into the real world. </p><p>	The strong gut wrenching smell of the salts followed by the pounding in Raz’s head was familiar. He hated using smelling salts to get out of a mental world. Normally he woke up exactly how he’d been when he entered the mental world, but he felt someone gripping him from around his middle, pulling him up, dragging him along the ground. In a moment of panic, Raz grabbed at the hand around his chest and tried to pry away the fingers. </p><p>	“Razputin, calm yourself!” The voice was Sasha’s. Raz blinked, his vision coming more into focus. He scrambled to pull his goggles down and looked up, seeing the man there above him. Sasha had dragged the boy across the floor and was scanning the area with his eyes. A few other Psychonauts were in the room, slowly moving around and securing the area. Agents Meyers and Stanchev were kneeling together nearby in handcuffs with large domed helmets on their heads. “You’re safe, calm down... what did you-“ Before Sasha could finish his sentence, a shrieking scream cut through the large empty warehouse. </p><p>	“Gyaaaaah!! I can’t...! Where are...!? NOOOO!!” The voice broke multiple times as the boy fell out of his wheelchair and thrusts his arms out, feeling along the ground as he tried to move forward, his head turning from side to side, up and down. “It’s dark... IT’S DARK!! NononoNONO!!!” The boy was grabbing as his face, seemingly clawing at himself, and he soon tossed what looked like his own eye to the ground. He screamed again and started crawling along the ground, sweeping his arms in front of him, but he soon curled up in a ball and grabbed his head, screaming until he couldn’t anymore.</p><p>	“...” Sasha looked down at Raz, who he was holding against him. “What happened in there?”</p><p>	“I just... turned off his clairvoyance. He’s blind.” Raz struggled to his feet, and Sasha stood up behind him, stepping to his side and placing a hand to the boy’s head. “He was kidnapped and used by some crooks, who abused him until he did what they said... and then he turned the tables and made them his puppets. And for some reason, he blames you.” </p><p>	“Me? Hmm...” Sasha carefully approached the boy, careful not to touch him, in case the boy could pull him into a new bout of clairvoyance. “He seems strangely familiar.” </p><p>	“I think you were offering him a spot at the camp. To train.” Raz took a deep breath. It felt good to win, but seeing the kid down there shivering and crying deep in a well of fear didn’t. </p><p>	“Hmm... And he never did come. Someone must have learned about his talents as well and intercepted. A great shame.” Sasha turned his head to Raz. “Officially, Razputin, you have done a great job. You neutralized the threat, which released the captive agents. They told us everything, and we were able to maneuver past the traps that had been set. If we’d gotten here sooner, we may have lost a number of agents.” Sasha stepped a bit closer and lowered his voice, glancing sideways to make sure no other agents were close enough to hear. “Unofficially... I’d like to speak to you in private. To apologize...and to explain.” </p><p>	“Well... You don’t have to-“</p><p>	“I do.” Sasha interrupted. “We need to... I need to explain myself. I promised you long ago that I would be honest and open with you. I’d like you to join me at my home after we’re debriefed at the Mother Lobe. Please.” </p><p>	Raz had almost forgotten how upset he had been at Sasha, but thinking on it there WERE a few things he really wanted to say to him. “Fine. Okay. We’ll debrief, and then we’ll meet at your place to talk.”</p>
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